Agenda item

The Development Officer, Climate and Environment explained that the Council’s Zero Carbon and Doubling Nature Action Plan had been revised to ensure that it included all the work being done by the Council. It had been independently reviewed by two external organisations resulting in the revised Plan detailed in Appendix A of the report.

Target dates for completing actions

The Head of Climate, Environment and Waste explained that the Action Plan did not provide precise details of how all the actions would be carried out and when, as some actions were still under development or ongoing. However, he agreed that the updated version of the Action Plan would provide more detail and signposts to further documentation on each action where applicable.

The Development Officer, Climate and Environment agreed to provide a progress report on the actions in Objective 1 that the Council had direct control over. She explained that the Council was on target to achieve 45% carbon reduction by 2025. It was noted that the impact of the Council’s strategy to influence issues outside its control was harder to assess.

Doubling nature

It was noted that as a target, doubling nature was difficult to quantify. Countywide data was being sought and the Chair explained that Natural Cambridgeshire had identified fourteen initiatives, relevant to this.

Councillor Brian Milnes stated that the County Council had a shadow carbon cost system and he suggested that this authority could use this to provide some comparative data.

Retrofitting of heritage properties

Retrofitting of historic and listed homes was discussed. The Chair stated that case studies could assist with this and could be helpful nationally. The Development Officer, Climate and Environment agreed to contact the Council’s conservation team and report back on the progress of case studies.

Local Plan and planning policies

The Committee requested that members be briefed on the Local Plan. It was hoped that the Plan could identify areas where sustainable energy projects could be constructed. Councillor Brian Milnes explained that clearer Government guidance was required on sustainability issues affecting the Local Plan.

Councillor Tumi Hawkins explained that the work of the Committee was closely linked with the draft Local Plan and the officers working on it. She suggested that the Committee nominate representatives to attend meetings of the Joint Planning Advisory Group, which was discussing the Local Plan.

Home extensions and new homes

The Committee hoped that planning officers could advise residents on how to make their proposed extensions more energy efficient. It was also hoped that similar guidance could be provided to new home builders. Councillor Geoff Harvey advocated Passivhaus standards for new homes.

The practicalities of policing newly revised building standards was raised and it was suggested that a representative from Building Control could explain the changes and how Building Control were enforcing these.

Equality Impact Assessment

It was noted that the Equality Impact Assessment would consider the impact of climate change on vulnerable people.

Investment Strategy

The Head of Climate, Environment and Waste explained that the Investment Strategy was being updated and the Committee would be able to review it.

Improving water quality in rivers

It was suggested that representatives from Cambs Valley Forum should be invited to speak to the Committee.

Working with Partners

The Committee noted that the Council needed to work with the Greater Cambridge Partnership, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and the County Council to reduce carbon emissions. It was agreed that the Committee should support its representatives on the Greater Cambridge Partnership and Combined Authority to achieve the aims of reducing carbon emissions.

It was noted that the Chair was a member of the LGA’s cross party National Climate Change Task Group, which sought to influence Government policy on climate change. The Council also had representation on the officer level net zero forum.

The Committee agreed that the C&E team should look again at how actions were allocated to Objectives to ensure a clear consistent approach.

The Committee agreed the following amendments to the Plan:

·         Additional paragraphs should be included on cost of living work in relation to climate justice and the work being carried out to involve young people in climate and environment work.

·         The plan to reduce carbon emissions from Council Estate and Operations by 75% should be included as a separate action under Objective 1.

·         Section 1.3 should include charging points at South Cambs Hall.

·         Onshore wind power and battery storage should be included in Section 2.2.1.

·         The possibility of extracting waste heat from effluent stream should be considered for Section 2.2.2.

·         Section 2.4 should include references to shared planning and planning policy.

·         Section 2.6 should include an explanation on sustainable food.

·         Section 3.2 reference to opportunity of tree planting should be removed and replaced with actions on trees.