Council planning officers ordered residents to remove air-con units over fears they produce too much carbon dioxide, stating they should only be used as a “last resort”.
The Net Zero clampdown is part of building regulations that state “active cooling” should only ever be allowed when all other means of “passive cooling”, such as opening windows or using fans, have been exhausted.
The Tories said Britain was being “kept in the dark ages” under a Net Zero mindset that denies people “modern conveniences that are completely normal in other countries”.
Meanwhile, temperatures are forecast to reach as high as 40°C this week, with Britain sweltering under a record heatwave that has forced schools to close, brought trains to a halt and led to the Met Office issuing a red “risk-to-life” warning.
Widely published advice states planning permission is not required to install air-con. However, planning is required in certain situations, such as in conservation areas, and there are different rules for flats, leasehold homes, as well as shared buildings.
It means there is a risk units are installed under the assumption they are permitted, but are later caught by council enforcement officers.
In one of a string of cases uncovered by the Telegraph, a resident living in North London was forced to “permanently remove” two air-con units from the back of their home.
Planning inspectors working for Camden council said there was “no justification” for the air-con units and that they failed to comply with the local authority’s so-called “cooling hierarchy”.
In an appeal, the resident was told to open the windows and balcony doors of their first-floor flat to ventilate the property “by natural means”....<<<Read More>>>...
