Agenda item

To consider reports from Executive Councillors on their respective Portfolios;

i.          Councillor Mike Rigby – Planning and Transportation

ii.         Councillor Peter Pilkington – Climate Change

3.2 of the Scrutiny Terms of Reference state that the Scrutiny Committee may review and scrutinise and ask questions of the Leader, lead Councillors, the Executive in relation to their portfolios.

Councillor Rigby introduced the Executive report for Planning and Transportation.

The report covered an update of the Local Plan Review Consultation, Wellington Station Business Case, and Interim Policy Statement on Planning for the Climate Emergency.

A further update was presented in relation to Phosphates and the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site. Further summaries were provided in relation to the East Street Pedestrianisation, active travel cycling schemes and the Planning Committee.

During the debate the following comments and questions were raised.

·         Discussion took place in relation to the performance of the Planning department and concerns had been expressed in relation to targets being met.

·         It was recognised there was further work to be done but improvements had been made to meet targets. It was recognised this had taken a while due to training and mentoring required.

·         Issues around section 106 funding had been discovered and work to resolve this was ongoing.

·         The number of applications in the pipeline continued to be at a good level even though the Covid-19 pandemic, developers continued to progress developments in the pipeline along with larger developments such as the Coal Orchard development continuing but with some delays.

·         The length and the process at Planning meetings continued to be a concern.

·         Future site visits for Planning Committees were questioned and the potential to arrange these in instances where required and considered beneficial.

·         Transport and infrastructure projects had were questioned such as the Wellington Railway Station and Wellington to Taunton Cycle path.

·         Staff in the Strategy Team had been working towards the Covid-19 response and Unitary bid. Therefore the work on the Local Plan and the timeline of this had slipped. An adopted local plan was considered unlikely at the end of the quadrenium.

·         The adoption of any plan by the new authority was considered unlikely due to the change of ambitions of a new council.

·         Zero Carbon ambitions as part of the Planning Policy would be considered, interim Planning Policy guidance around this would be explored by the Planning Policy Department.

·         District Heating with new developments was considered to ensure renewable and low carbon energy standards.

·         Garden Town plans were discussed along with attracting funding to create sustainable transport.

·         Training for Parish Councils for Planning matters was requested, this would be picked up following the meeting to see if something could be arranged.

·         An update was requested around the phosphate impact on developers and the planning process. A calculator would be completed and signed off within a few days so developers are aware what there developments are responsible for and mitigation measures can be determined and agreed.

·         Concerns had been expressed on the impact on local businesses and small constructors.

·         The new facilities at Ham treatment works were mentioned, together with historic planning permission  which suggests that these might be connected to phosphate extraction. It was suggested that Wessex Water be invited to meet with councillors to provide an update

·         Section 106 funding and the overall loss of funding was requested.

·         Loss of access to sums of money from the 106 was a loss to communities that couldn’t afford to lose this funding.

·         The Committee thanks Councillor Rigby for his participation.

Councillor Pilkington introduced his Portfolio Holder Report.

The Assistant Director for Operational Delivery provided a presentation in respect of e-scooters, procurement of electric pool cars, vehicle charging points and Housing retrofitting.

During the debate the following comments and questions were raised.

·         The key priorities of the Portfolio Holder in getting the Council towards Carbon Neutrality by 2030 were questioned.

·         There was confidence in the work undertaken, key actions in prioritising Carbon Neutral projects was requested.

·         The strategy highlighted that transport and build infrastructure would make the biggest impact in Carbon Neutrality ambitions.

·         A scorecard would be developed on quantifying the impacts and track the progress towards carbon neutrality.

·         Putting the climate change emergency at the centre of what the authority does and how progress in other areas of Council business was questioned. It was acknowledged progress was still to be made in fitting this in across the organisation.

·         A rolling programme to involve Western power works required for the installation of charging points was encouraged.

·         The vision and urgency of the addressing emergency was questioned. Stopping carbon emissions by 2030 was demanding due to the late nature of the goal.

·         A role for local authorities in private sector housing retrofit was encouraged alongside a review of renewable energy in the HRA and on local transport.

·         Differentiate what happens from a Council perspective and Somerset wide basis was important. Solar PV and local energy generation was part of the programme alongside engaging with all agencies and developers.

·         It was recognised more communications and visibility was required in some instances of the carbon neutrality programme. A specialist officer to address community engagement was requested to help move the ambitions forward to help with the visibility.

·         Getting main Housing Developers on board was essential in addressing carbon neutrality

·         Support for Parish Councils to work together and collaborate to support was encouraged. Parish Councils were engaged and had similar initiatives to address climate change. County initiatives had created momentum.

·         The working group would be created but there was no start date in setting this up currently.

·         6000 residents had registered to use e-scooters since the launch. E-Scooters would be extended further to other areas across the district.

·         There had been no recorded accidents from e-scooters since the launch.

·         There had been disappointment in charging points not being installed in all car parks.

·         There had been capacity issues in introducing more charge points in car parks but there was ambition to introduce more this year.

·          

The Scrutiny Committee noted the Executive Reports