The PTARMIGAN LAND GROUP
Our Environmental, Social & Governance Approach Summer 2023
Introduction
At Ptarmigan, our purpose is to create developments that enable people and environments to thrive and prosper. Our mission, to maximise potential and unlock the value of land to create a legacy of thriving communities, delivers our vision of communities we can be proud of: a legacy of sustainable developments.
This year, we are publishing this ESG strategy to articulate what we are already doing to contribute sustainable developments to the UK, and to quantify our efforts to evidence delivery of our mission and vision.
Using the well-recognised United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and targets, we recognise our ability to help contribute towards achieving all the goals both through our own actions and by delivering our communities.
Ptarmigan are working towards a Planet Mark Certification, which will measure and report on our progress on 9 out of 17 UNSDGs and our direct contribution towards 18 out of the 169 targets. The 2023 business certification will form a baseline, from which we will report year-on-year our contribution and progress towards a sustainable future.
The SDGs and how we are already contributing:
Through our projects and our people, we are already contributing to SDGs 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 16, although our Planet Mark certification will only report on 9 of these. Ahead of certification to quantify our contributions, we have summarised our activities:
Goal 3 – Good Health and Well-being; Targets 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.9
What we do in our team:
We put great effort into building trusting working relationships within the team. This allows us to work towards Goal 3, as follows:
Our Agile Working approach means that the team are able to work where best suits the needs of the day. Every member of the team is supported to find a balance between office team days, remote working on sites and at meetings, or working from home.
We “keep an eye” on each other, encouraging healthy lifestyles and diet, checking in on how we’re feeling and coping with workload and life balance.
We are inclusive, catering for any member of the team with special requirements, be they dietary requirements, personal (such as family care responsibilities, or holy days), physical or learning needs; we take care to ensure individual needs are met wherever possible.
We ensure that all employees have a safe, comfortable working environment (target 3.9)
We sponsor a cycle to work scheme and provide space for cycles at the office and a shower for staff use
The majority of our team follow the “active travel” hierarchy, prioritized walking and cycling to work and meetings all the time, and over 75% of the team are able to use public transport to get around on business.
And in our communities:
We aim for all our communities to be developed with a significant percentage of the land (>50% on larger sites) delivering green space, ecological benefits and bio-diversity net gain, to enhance the natural environment
We aim to have all our community residents within walking distance of Schools, Open spaces and Sustainable transport
All travel routes within our development are designed with inclusive safety in mind
We aim to put residents at the centre of the ongoing stewardship of open space provided within our communities
The majority of our larger schemes provide a local community centre or other space dedicated to the community
Goal 4 – Quality Education; Targets 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.7, 4.a
Many of our sites include the provision of schools, including Early-Learning, Primary and Secondary schools, in a variety of formats and delivery options. We work with Local Authorities to try and ensure diverse, inclusive, and affordable education provision on or near each of our sites.
Some of our team also volunteer in education outreach, as STEM Ambassadors, or providing CPD and mentoring to teachers in their local communities, or as school governors.
Goal 5 – Gender Equality; Targets 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 5.5, 5.a, 5.b
Our agile working policy allows all our staff to effectively balance their family commitments with their work to relieve the burden of being working parents and reduce reliance on female parents as the primary carer for children.
Our team are employed for their skills, and trusted to manage their workload effectively themselves in liaison with the Senior Management Team, and our open and empathetic approach to communication means that the team feel empowered to find ways of working that balance their needs with the needs of their job.
If caught short for emergency childcare, for example, during school strikes, parents are able to bring their children to the office and will be supported by the whole team, or work from home, or vary their working hours at short notice, provided this is all communicated clearly with the wider team.
We know we’re being successful with this goal, as our organic growth means that in 2023, we have achieved gender balance within the business, something we are incredibly proud of, with an increase in women in senior roles and equity positions within the business as well.
On our projects, we are consciously designing for equitable communities, taking seriously the threats to women and girls in particular in designing public spaces.
We achieve this by actively working with consultants with diverse teams, as a range of age, experience, gender, ethnicity and other backgrounds will translate into diverse and inclusive developments.
Goal 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation; Targets 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6b
All our developments are designed with Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and we actively look for opportunities for water use reduction through efficiencies, passive cooling through good placemaking design, planting in the correct season to avoid intensive watering regimes, etc.
We try, wherever possible, to convey the long-term management of the surface water SuDS networks to the new community and support with education and empowerment of those communities in the achievement of ongoing sustainable water management.
Goal 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy; Targets 7.1, 7.2
Whilst we cannot directly influence the cost of energy, we can and do promote sustainable energy as part of our communities, by seeking partnerships with energy service companies to deliver efficient networks and modern renewable technologies where we can.
In 2023, we have are investigating working with a sustainable energy company to introduce Smart-Grids into one of our developments, providing a mix of solar, wind power and battery use to reduce grid power consumption by up to 50%.
If successful we will be implementing that on all the sites where it is achievable.
Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth; Targets 8.2, 8.3, 8.5
As a business, we support continuous professional development for all our team, to ensure our skills remain at the forefront of legislative updates, innovation and best practice.
On our sites, our approach to designing, and in some cases, delivering, high-quality sustainable infrastructure allows development of quality sustainable residential, retail, commercial and industrial uses. Our projects, through the process of planning and delivery, create thousands of quality jobs throughout design, construction, and operation.
Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; Targets 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
Industry:
The majority of our large sites include employment space, retail and community spaces. We work closely with local authorities and local businesses to find the right owners and operators for these sites, matching demand and supply wherever possible.
For example, our Chelmsford Garden Community scheme will include 12 acres of employment land designated as an Innovation hub, and we are actively seeking innovators to join our community.
We are also providing local employment space in the Neighbourhood Centre, ideal for SMEs which foster entrepreneurial activity and innovation, providing colocation space as well as traditional employment.
Infrastructure:
Infrastructure is central to delivery of all of our schemes both onsite, and particularly in the case of our larger schemes, typically include substantial improvements to local infrastructure both on and off site.
For example, our Chelmsford Garden Community scheme is contributing to the delivery of a new railways station and NE Chelmsford by-pass, as well as helping deliver a major new foul sewer connection to reduce sewage congestion in the centre of Chelmsford, and 3-4 new schools, sustainable transport routes for cycling and walking, mobility hubs with charging facilities for electric scooters, cycles and cars, Sustainable Drainage Systems, Biodiversity Net Gain, and many other Built and Natural Environment infrastructure enhancements.
Goal 10 – Reduced Inequalities; Targets 10.2, 10.4
As a business, we are inclusive and are working towards increased diversity, as we recognise the significant benefits a team from different backgrounds can have towards enriching our offering.
On our projects, we prefer that the long-term management of the communal infrastructure is conveyed to a community-led management company, with residents of our communities actively engaged in the decisions being made about their homes and local open spaces.
We work with the community management company for the first few years of any development in order to educate and empower them to make sustainable decisions for the future.
Goal 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities; Targets 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.7, 11.a
We aspire to achieve sustainable development on all our projects by working closely with local stakeholders (including existing communities, local authorities and advisory groups) during the planning stages of development to guarantee enhancements to key infrastructure.
This includes: sustainable transport modes, 15-minute neighbourhoods reducing the reliance on private cars, primary education within walking distance of every home, active travel connections into the wider transport network, and Green Infrastructure catering to a range of ages, abilities and mobilities.
For example, on our Chelmsford Garden Community site:
All our residents will live within 800 metres of the Chelmsford Park & Ride providing rapid transit into the City Centre and Railway Station.
We are providing mobility hubs with car share facilities, bike/scooter hire, electric vehicle charging, and bus connections
We provide a local bus service and connections to Stanstead Airport
We are contributing to the delivery of a new railways station and NE Chelmsford by-pass
We are creating Discovery Park, green open space spanning around 50% of the site, with ponds and swales, active travels routes, woodlands, wildflower meadows, hedgerows, community gardens/orchards, sensory areas, public art installations, environmental education, insect hotels, reptilian and amphibian hibernacula, play spaces, and so on.
The Innovation Hub and Neighbourhood Centre will provide employment, retail commercial activity, community buildings and education provision in the form of Early Years nurseries and a Primary School
Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production; Targets 12.2, 12.3, 12.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.8
Within our business day-to-day:
We have dramatically reduced our use of paper and printer inks/toners and are a pathway to become > 80% paper free throughout our offices (from a 2018 baseline), where the only paper still required will be for statutory filings, and as government departments become more digitally-friendly we can reduce those.
We aim to recycle at least 50% of all our waste, and make an effort to procure consumables in recyclable packaging and from companies who are also consciously making an effort to operate in a more sustainable way
All our lights are highly efficient LEDS, replacing every light fitting in 2023
We have had an almost 40% reduction in electricity consumption per capita between 2019 and 2023, thanks to switching to more energy-efficient electrical equipment in the office and our agile working policy.
Our water and sanitation fittings are low-flow and checked regularly to ensure they are in full working order with no leaks.
We do not maintain a company car fleet and encourage staff to travel following the active travel hierarchy (walk/cycle), using public transport where necessary and cars as a last resort. Many of the team who do have to drive regularly on business have chosen to purchase electric or hybrid personal vehicles for these journeys. Journeys are planned in advance wherever possible in order to ensure the most efficient and sustainable route is taken.
By embracing agile working practices, our teams can minimize their need to make unnecessary journeys.
We are actively seeking Planet Mark accreditation to benchmark what we’re doing and gain ideas for how to be even more sustainable.
On our projects:
We are working towards ensuring that all our projects implement responsible consumption practices throughout design, procurement and construction, by asking all the people we work with to match our commitment to sustainable development.
Goal 13 – Climate Action; Targets 13.1, 13.3
All of our projects take into account climate change impacts in the design of infrastructure, particularly for the future increases to flood risk, drought, overheating and biodiversity and habitat loss.
We make sure we educate ourselves to stay informed on emerging legislative changes and emerging best practice.
In our offices, and on our projects, we make a point of improving education and raising awareness about the issues of climate change, and put in place mitigation and adaption measures, for example, climate change allowances when assessing flood risk, design of the landscape for natural cooling and water management and to avoid thermal massing, and so on.
Goal 15 – Life on Land; Targets 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.5, 15.8, 15.9
All our developments deliver ecological benefits through prioritising native species planting, enhancing and restoring existing landscapes, and protecting and safeguarding rare/at-risk species. We are increasing our focus on bio-diversity net gain, trying to exceed 20% BNG on land that we control.
We carefully plan our natural spaces to capitalise on and enhance existing thriving ecosystems, restore neglected or overworked landscapes, using nature-based solutions to design our infrastructure, and integrate the natural environment into the built environment for the benefit of our communities and natural ecosystems.
Goal 16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; Targets 16.6, 16.7
On our developments, we try to create effective and empowered communities that are responsible for the long-term management of their local environments.
On several of our developments, we have established “Community Interest Companies”, responsible for the management and governance of communal infrastructure on our sites in perpetuity.
Our 2023-24 ESG Commitments
We recognise that we have made a great start in working towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals and targets and are contributing positively, but there is still a long way to go.
Our Planet Mark certification will help benchmark our progress and set clear, quantifiable targets for a way forward to transition our business to ensure a Net Positive Impact on climate change and social value, for a more sustainable future for ourselves, and our communities.
We commit to year-on-year quantifiable progress towards the UN SDGs.
By the end of 2024, we will publish our “2030” plan, setting out step-by-step how our business will achieve Net Positive Impact across our offices, sites and beyond, and a timeline for doing this.
We commit to a free exchange of knowledge.
We will learn from others as well as share our emerging knowledge and best practice with our network of investors, local and national authorities, consultants, contractors, communities, the public – anyone who’ll listen!
Signed,
The Directors, Ptarmigan Land Group