What is the checklist?

The Checklist is an easy-to-use online tool that identifies a range of different economic, social and environmental sustainability issues covered in National Guidance and the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy.

It enables users to assess to what extent a development site proposal will deliver on the different aspects of sustainability.

The Checklist covers regionally specific sustainability and planning issues, emphasising those of higher priority. It can also be adapted to reflect locally significant concerns.

The Checklist highlights best practice, and looks at issues relevant to the overall development scale, helping developers, local authorities and other interested parties to deliver sustainable communities. For individual buildings the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and the new Code for Sustainable Homes will need to be used.

The Checklist has been developed by West Midlands Regional Assembly, Advantage West Midlands with the help of the Building Research Establishment, and support of the Department of Local Communities and Local Government, WWF, West Midlands Building Technology Cluster, West Midlands Regional Planning Officers Group, and Sustainability West Midlands.

As Regional Planning Body, the West Midlands Regional Assembly commends the use of the sustainability checklist as a useful tool for developers particularly for major applications where a Strategic Environmental Assessment is not required, in addressing sustainability issues such as climate change, and a key implementation tool for the revised Regional Spatial Strategy.

As a regional funding body, and land owner, Advantage West Midlands requires large developments it is funding or being developed on its land to use the checklist as part of AWM's built environment standards.