Agenda item

This matter is the responsibility of Executive Councillor for Climate Change, Councillor Dixie Darch

Report Author: Jonathan Stevens, Assistant Director Climate Change, Regulatory Services and Asset Management.

The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change introduced the report:  

·                   The Council’s CNCR Plan was approved in October 2020 and built into that plan was an annual review report to be produced to review progress.  

·                   The report focused on the 180 immediate actions in the CNCR Plan.  

The Assistant Director for Climate Change raised the following points:  

·                   This was the first update on the CNCR plan. There were 180 actions included in the report. The main successes were highlighted.  

·                   Work against the plan was progressing quickly and there were some updates since the report was published. Such as the fact that all the Council’s fleet cars would be electric by the end of the year and extensive woodland creation projects having been progressed.  

·                   The Council was today named highest scoring district council in the UK by Climate Emergency UK who have scored all council action plans.  

·                   The CNCR was a live document and constantly updated. The appointment of officers to own updating the progress on actions was currently being undertaken.  

·                   Some commitments were challenging but there were some which were easy steps. The plan was held by the Climate Team, but actions were taken by services across the Council. Some actions in the plan were reliant upon the action of external bodies but the Council would encourage those bodies to take action.  

·                   There was difficulty in quantifying the amount to which these actions reduced the districts emissions, however, work on developing an approach to calculate this was being worked on.  

During the debate the following points were raised: 

·                   It was asked if the actions which proved the greatest challenges to complete were those where the Council did not have direct control and had to rely on external bodies. Officers responded that this interpretation was a fair assessment.  

Cllr Deakin left the meeting at this point (20:14). 

·                   It was expressed that there had been difficulty in persuading parish councils to install electric vehicle charging points even where funding was available. It was asked if more could be done to encourage parish councils to install charging points. Officers responded that the grants for electric vehicle charging points for parish councils were to be relaunched in the coming weeks and this would be communicated to parish councils.  

·                   It was asked if grants for electric vehicle charging points were also available to the unparished area. Officers responded that they were. The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change added that those who had off road parking would likely install their own electric vehicle charging points and that those at places such as village halls would be used by those who did not have one at home.  

·                   It was raised that some public water taps had been installed by town and parish councils and that their work should also be recognised. Officers responded that working with parish councils, community groups and other organisations would be vital to achieve net zero and agreed that their work should be recognised.  

·                   It was raised that there was some reluctance on take up of waterless urinals.  

·                   Thanks were expressed for the report.  

·                   It was raised that electric vehicle charging points had been a success with usage increasing.   

·                   Congratulations were given for coming first nationally in Climate Emergency UK’s rankings and for the work of officers and the Portfolio Holder on Climate Change.  

·                   It was suggested that some of the higher impact areas for reducing emissions should be given greater focus.  

·                   The marking of some items on the CNCR list as complete was questioned as the actions had not been fully achieved and more could be done to ensure those actions were completed. Officers responded that the plan to appoint certain officers to monitor particular actions would hopefully resolve these issues with actions having been signed off as complete when not fully completed.  

·                   The importance of achieving carbon neutrality as soon as possible was emphasised.  

·                   It was asked if the Council was keeping up with the rise in electric car vehicle sales in terms of the installation of electric vehicle charging points.  

·                   Acknowledging partner organisations in the report was encouraged. Officers responded that they would make changes to ensure partners were included and acknowledged for their efforts in the report.  

·                   Suggestions were made as to ways in which the layout of the document could be improved.  

·                   The portfolio holder thanked the committee for their comments and raised that partnership working was crucial. Showcasing examples of good work and engaging with communities on climate change was also important.  

·                   The Chair thanked the portfolio holder and staff for all their hard work and for acknowledging and taking on board the comments of the committee.