Agenda item

To consider the Climate Change Action Plan.

Councillor Pepper presented the Climate Change Action Plan and said that they had worked hard to come up with a strong joined up framework, focusing on issues within the Council’s control and working alongside key stakeholders. 

A detailed list of actions to date had been provided which helped to feed into the core objective to reduce the carbon emissions of the district. 

She said that the actions provided bold solutions for renewable energy, sustainable transport, walking and cycling as well as enhancing, protecting, and restoring the biodiversity within UDC.

She highlighted some examples of progress to date: -

• A cycle strategy for UDC including walking and cycling infrastructure using money from S106 funding was underway.
• A grant had been obtained to retrofit houses of low-income families. 
• Awaiting confirmation of a further energy grant of just under £1m. 
• A biodiversity study had been completed to map environmentally important areas and this would identify projects for funding.

She suggested that as it was a live document that a 6 monthly progress report was produced.

The Members thanked Officers and Councillor Pepper for their hard work in producing the document.

In response to a question from Councillor Jones, the Climate Change Project Officer said that it was not possible to change all the current fleet of bin lorries to reduce their carbon footprint.  She said that there would need to be some carbon offsetting until such time that the fleet could sensibly be upgraded. 

She said in response to an additional question from Councillor LeCount that the fleet would gradually be replaced, and she hoped that the price of electric lorries or other alternatives would come down in price.

Councillor Jones asked for the report to include the carbon offsetting figures.

Councillor Sell said that he had some concerns about the report.  He said that there was only 18 months left of this administration and he did not know how much of the money could be spent in this time.  He said that there were over 30 action points and no prioritisation of what to focus on first.  He thought some actions were not quantifiable and there were no SMART targets or meaningful way to measure outcomes.

Councillor Pepper said that there were 3 areas of focus, transport, energy, and biodiversity.  She suggested that an interim report was brought back in 6 months’ time when progress could be assessed, and more detail would be available on how the money was planned to be spent.

Councillor Smith said that it had been over 2 years since the climate change emergency had been declared and some residents might wonder why it had taken so long to get the action plan in place.  He said the report needed some fine tuning and to be clearer with regards to planned achievements. 

CouncillorIsham agreed and said the focus needed to be on instant wins and actions that were in the Council’s control.  He said a highly valuable way to start would be to raise awareness and educate within schools.

Councillor De Vries said that he had expected more tangible data in terms of dates and who would be responsible to deliver the actions.  There needed to be key performance indicators on items that could be delivered and then a separate document containing items that would take longer to implement.  He said a review in six months was not soon enough.   

Councillor LeCount asked for an executive summary to be added at the start of the document to summarise what had been covered, including dates for completion.  He said this would then be useful to measure how well the Council was performing.

Councillor Pepper said that the pandemic had slowed the progress of the report and some of the quick wins, for example, going into schools had just not been possible.  She said that moving forward there was now a full time officer working on the report and she said that progress would happen at a faster pace.

Councillor Lavelle said that he thought it was an exceptional document and he pointed out a number of actions that had been completed: -

• heat pumps installed in 90 Council houses.
• oil boilers replaced in 80 properties. 
• 280 properties had added wall insulation.
• solar panels put on 300 properties.

He said this was real action that was making a difference.  He accepted that there was more to do in the future but thought it was a good start.

The Chair summarised the debate, he said that despite the pandemic the climate emergency had been declared in July 2019.  He said whilst the document was comprehensive it was aspirational rather than focusing on deliverables and there was a lack of measurable commitments and how success would be quantified.  

Councillor Pepper said that some achievements had been overlooked, which included: -

• an interim climate change policy that was used by all developers before submitting a planning application. 
• the switch by the Council to a green tariff.
• 32 electrical charging points installed.
• roadside verges left for rewilding.
• trees and hedgerows planted. 

She said that the administration was also trying to influence residents to make their own changes to their behaviour and this was all without help from Central Government.  She said she would be happy to come back in March with more detailed plans of how the money would be spent. 

The Chair proposed a vote on whether to remit to Cabinet, and said if Members voted against this, then a further motion for an extraordinary meeting in December would be put forward to consider the revisions made to the document. 

The Assistant Director – Environmental Services said that the document could be brought back in a months’ time but asked for some specifics on what the Committee wanted to be changed.  The Chair suggested that Councillors Sell, Isham and De Vries provided more detailed feedback.

AGREED: That an additional Scrutiny Committee meeting would be held in December to consider revisions to the document before it was remitted to Cabinet for the January meeting.