Agenda and minutes

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillor Peter Sandford. Councillor Natalie Warren-Green was present as a substitute.

Councillors Pippa Heylings, Dr Martin Cahn, Dr Tumi Hawkins made declarations that they had engaged with the Solar Together Scheme, as customers, to install solar panels on their own homes.

By affirmation, the Committee authorised the Chair to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 April 2023 as a correct record.

The Development Officer (Climate & Environment) presented the report and provided a number of updates to the report:

·       Members were informed that CO2 emission data was released at the end of June by Central Government, thus it was proposed that future Zero Carbon annual reviews be brought to Committee later in the year.

·       It was clarified that there were 65 actions in the current plan, rather than 66 as listed in the report.

·       The pie chart labelled “Scope 2” on page 46 of the agenda was listed as 264 TCO2E when the actual figure was 182 TCO2E.

·       Action 4.2.1 had been amended to read “working through the Cambridgeshire Energy Retrofit Partnership deliver government funded HUG2 scheme by Q4” and an action to “develop the Action on Energy scheme to serve the needs of able-to-pay households” was added.

·       The replacement of the action to “go beyond current building regulations of energy efficiency (part L) in new build on Council owned land subject to feasibility” was to read “continue to explore high energy efficiency specifications on homes built through the South Cambs Investment Partnership”.

The Committee agreed to the adjustment to annual timing of the report to include the June data. Members made a number of comments regarding the action plan.

Section 1: Reduce consumption of resources and waste

The Committee noted the completed actions and supported the proposed revision to action 1.1. Members were pleased to see the reduction of single-use plastics and the uptake of reusable/recyclable materials. Officers advised that the experience of reducing waste within the Council provided good experience to carry forward into campaigns to help other organisations reduce their waste.

Members were informed that the Joint Waste Strategy was up for renewal at the end of the year. The Committee requested that a draft of the proposed strategy be brought to Committee to allow Members to make comment prior to implementation.

Members discussed the challenges of recycling solar panels and officers advised that, whilst most solar panels installed in the region would not need to be disposed of for a number of years, the issue of solar panel recycling was being explored, in conjunction with Cambridgeshire County Council, in order to produce a joint approach to disposing of used solar panels before it becomes an issue for the region.

Section 2: Decarbonise planning and land use

The Committee discussed the causes of emissions that arose from land use in the District, including agriculture, development and the drying of peat land at the fen border of the District.

Members noted the progress of the Greater Cambridge Local Plan but emphasised the need to continue to take action to decarbonise planning in the District. Members noted the limitations of national legislation but commended the amount of sustainable development in the District, with many large developments going above the minimum requirements for energy efficiency, biodiversity net gain and other sustainability measures. Members felt that the aspirational targets set by the Council set a high standard for development in the District, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Committee was informed that the next meeting would be held on Thursday 12 October 2023.