Agenda and minutes

The Chair made several brief announcements. It was noted that Councillor Paul Bearpark had stepped down from the Committee; Councillor Bearpark was thanked for his time and work with the Committee and Councillor Natalie Warren-Green was welcomed as a full Member. The Chair also noted that the Council had been accredited as a Bronze Carbon Literate Organisation by the Carbon Literacy Project, and that an Action on Energy workshop had been held with officers and colleagues from all Cambridgeshire Councils, as well as community representatives, to discuss the challenges around retrofitting housing in the County.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Shrobona Bhattacharya, Ariel Cahn and Peter Sandford. Councillor Heather Williams was present as a substitute.

There were no Declarations of Interest.

To authorise the Chair to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 June 2023 as a correct record.

By affirmation, the Committee authorised the Chair to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 06 June 2023 as a correct record.

The Natural Environment Team Leader presented the report on Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and informed the Committee that pending introduction of mandatory BNG requirements into the Town & Country Planning Act, as laid out in the Environment Act 2021, was projected to be implemented in January 2024, although Government guidance was pending release. Consequently, officers were operating on best practice guidance from other bodies, with Natural Cambridge and the Wildlife Trust being cited as examples.

Throughout the discussion, Members asked a number of questions regarding how the BNG legislation would work in practice. Throughout their responses, officers gave the following advice on how they expected BNG requirements to be implemented:

·       Most development that requires planning permission, with some exceptions such as Householder Full (HFUL) applications, would be subject to Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP) conditions to ensure that a minimum of 10% BNG was achieved.

·       Developers would be obligated to maintain the habitats for a minimum of 30 years.

·       Site assessment would be undertaken, both pre-commencement and in the lifetime of the obligations, by both the developers (or their appointed representatives) and Council Ecologists. Developers would present reports to the Council, whose Ecologists would conduct their own investigations (including site visits) and compare the findings. Where issues arise and BMPs were not followed, statutory requirements would ensure that the developers were obliged to resolve them.

·       Data was required to be gathered through the standardised DEFRA Biodiversity Metric. Reports were to be produced and provided to DEFRA, as part of their national register for net gain delivery sites, in annual intervals for the first 5 years post-development, followed by reports every 5 years for the remainder of the obligation.

Members enquired as to what biodiversity data management systems were in place and officers detailed the work undertaken to identify and procure the best available software in advance of the implementation of the BNG legislative requirements. Members enquired as to if residents could contribute to the biodiversity baseline data set. Officers advised that, given the complexity of the DEFRA Metric and technical understanding required to utilise it, BNG baseline data was not an area which was expected to benefit greatly from public engagement. Both officers and Members stated that residents had a major role to play in enhancing biodiversity in the District and wider region, and it was suggested that residents submit any data they have that could be useful to the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Environmental Records Centre (based in Cambourne). Members also expressed optimism that greater engagement with Parish Councils, noting the bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund to assist with funding, would help empower residents to feed into the BNG process.

Further explanation was given on how BNG requirements were expected to be implemented:

·       The current mitigation hierarchy (avoidance, mitigation and compensation for biodiversity loss) would be maintained.

·       BNG and habitat delivery could be delivered on-site or off-site. BNG delivery would be highly contextual and implemented on a case-by-case basis, as all planning considerations were, but the 10% BNG laid out by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Verbal update

The Waste Policy, Climate and Environment Team Manager provided the verbal update to the Committee. The update provided a definition of climate adaptation and risk, and the Committee was advised that a climate risk subgroup had been established with climate lead representatives from various local bodies, such as neighbouring authorities, combined authorities and other public services (e.g. police, NHS) and had held an initial workshop in July 2023. The key points of discussion from the workshop were detailed and the Committee was advised of the next steps of the subgroup, including wider stakeholder engagement. Members were informed that an update would be brought to one of the next meetings of the Committee.

The Committee discussed the nature of climate risk and adaptation and commended officers for undertaking assessments of climate risk and potential adaptations that could be made in the region. The Net Zero and Doubling Nature strategies, as well as other initiatives, were recognised as existing climate adaption that was ongoing in the District and the need to integrate new measures with existing action was raised. Members noted the challenges to implementing carbon reduction measures arising from changes to national Net Zero legislation. Business continuity was discussed and Members encouraged officers to utilise existing relationships with local business to inform them on climate risk. Officers advised that the work of the subgroup would explore how businesses can be helped to adapt to climate risks, alongside the adaptations that could be implemented by local authorities.

The Committee noted the verbal update.