The Rochford Area Action Plan makes welcome references and statements to Sustainable Development as part of Rochford planning and policy context, for instance on pages 10 and 23 of the document. However, it is not clear how the Area Action Plan will ensure that development within Rochford will be sustainable and resilient to the effects from extreme weather patterns/events experienced now and from future changes to our climate, for example, surface water flooding. It is considered that the Rochford Action Area Plan should positively complement content within the Core Strategy, for instance paragraph 8.3 (page 77), and the Development Management Document, for instance paragraph 2.5 (page 16), where the importance of reducing the District's carbon emissions and adapting to climate change at a local level is recognised.

To provide the necessary clarity on this issue the Submission Document should be altered by inclusion in Section 3.1, after the paragraph beginning 'Good accessibility -...', a new additional paragraph to read,

'Rochford, like many other Towns, will be vulnerable to unavoidable climate change and extreme weather events in the future, such as surface water flooding and exposure to extremely high and cold temperatures. To ensure the sustainability of Rochford's economy, continued preservation of the historic fabric and protection of green-spaces in the long-term development proposals will be required to take account of, and be adaptable to, the expected changes in local climate conditions, throughout the proposed lifetime of the development. All new developments should reduce predicted CO2 emissions using a combination of building performance improvements, small scale on-site renewable energy and/or efficient supply of heat, cooling and power.'