All new homes should be within 10 minutes’ walk from shops and schools if the UK is to reduce its carbon emissions, sustainable transport campaigners have argued.
Charity Sustrans called for the National Planning Policy Framework to refuse planning permission for new homes not within walking or cycling distance of amenities.
Director of urbanism at Sustrans, Rachel Toms, said: ‘The planning system is part of the supply chain of carbon emissions, locking many people into car dependence.
‘Currently, there is no legal duty for the planning system to deliver on net zero targets or healthy, inclusive environments.
'For the UK to meet its legally binding net zero targets – and to improve the health of the nation and level up communities – the planning system has to make it ultra-convenient for people in new developments to walk, wheel, cycle and use public transport.’