Can anyone highlight some measure or policy guidelines adopted by various cities for conservation or preservation of the Environment and ecology in the urban centres especially in the residential developments?
Forbid building on wetlands. Percolation tests for septic systems. Tests for potable water from wells. Separation between wells and septic systems. Regulations regarding storm water runoff: e.g., retention and detention ponds, culvert under driveways, drainage ditches along roadway.
In Poland we have a two-stage system of law: the study of conditions and directions of development and land use plans. The first level is very general and mentions jdynie the occurrence of natural areas but does not describe how to protect them.
The local development plan are already guidelines / orders of protection of the environment at the new building. The most common indicator used in local land use plans is an area ratio of new buildings and the distance from the border of the forest or the lake.
Of course there are also environmental regulations describing the valuable areas but finally the feasibility of new construction are indicated (collected from other provisions) of the local development plan.
What I believe is the choices of development in terms of the nature and character of built form we propose on the land meant for development also affects the quality of environment, besides conservation of the environmentally sensitive areas, regulations regarding the the water conservation, segregation, distances from the eco sensitive zones like forest, lakes, ponds, etc.
It would be helpful if I could get a copy of documents/guidelines if available in public domain or some related documents indicating the indicators or parameters incorporated into the local development plans.
Protection of the natural environment is a serious consideration during the planning application process and applicants are normaly required to provide a number of studies that will assess the enverionmental impact of the proposed development as well as any mitigation measures that may be required. As an example, I have enclosed a link for the Tyne and Wear Planning Application Validation List which covers this region in the North East of England, whilst similar validation list exist for other parts of the country.
The document highlight what documents may have to be submitted in order for a planning application to be considered at all. Some of the documents required are core requirements, whilst others are required by the planners depending on the particular development site in question, Normally the applicant can ask for a pre planning applucation advise which will determine the validation list of the required doucments that have to be submitted for the given development for a particular site in order for the application to be considered.
The document also include links to relevant guidance documents.