Environmental Policy

The environmental policy of RPMC falls under two headings: (a) maintenance of the environment, landscaping, etc, (b) issues arising from energy usage, and (c) disposal of certain waste materials..

ENVIRONMENT

The long-established policy of the Directors has been to maintain and enhance the natural environment and amenities of the Estate.  This involves:

• Careful management of woods and individual trees;
• Respecting any relevant Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs);
• Requiring all property owners to obtain consent for tree removal, pruning etc in addition to obtaining consent from Cheltenham Borough Council;
• Ensuring an annual audit of all trees by recognised professional arboriculturalists;
• Acting on this audit;
• Planting at least one, usually more than one tree for any tree lost;
• Arranging a continuous and sensitive management of the Estate landscape;
• Disposing of woodland detritus within the woods;
• Protecting wildlife on the Estate as far as possible.

ENERGY, POWER ETC

Solar panels: although planning consent from the Local Authority is not required for solar panels, nevertheless it is still necessary for planning consent to be given by RPMC.

Electric vehicles: the adoption of electrically-powered vehicles may put a strain on the electricity supply system of the Estate.  The Board have taken steps to consult the Estate’s Distribution Network Operator (Western Power Distribution) for advice on this matter.  At present (Autumn 2019) there is no clear national policy on any necessary changes or upgrades to local distribution systems.

Street lighting: the Directors arranged for the Estate lighting contractor (W & N Adams) to replace the original sodium discharge lighting system with LED lights, thereby saving  on the amount of energy required to light the roads and paths of the Estate.

DISPOSAL OF CERTAIN WASTE MATERIALS, PLASTICS

Usage of plastics: the operations of the Company are mainly concerned with environmental maintenance and improvement and tend not to involve the creation, use or disposal of plastics. Nevertheless, the Directors are aware of a growing community concern on this issue. They require contractors to keep plastic usage and disposal to a minimum. Also, the repeated requests by the Company to residents not to flush anything but human waste down WCs (to protect machinery in the pumping station) will in future add a further reference to plastics, asking that under no circumstances should these be disposed of in foul waste.