Agenda and minutes

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RESOLVED - that the minutes of the meeting held on 27 October 2020 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

To receive the report of the Director: Neighbourhood & Enforcement Services.

Councillor C Healy (Cabinet Member for Visitor Economy, Historic & Natural Environment and Climate Change) will also attend for this item.

The Committee received a presentation from the Director: Neighbourhood & Enforcement Services that set out the Council’s Recovery, Reform, and Reset (RRR) agenda.

Members heard that that the RRR was a part of the Council wider recovery programme. There were monthly meetings of a group of core officers and Cabinet Members to develop and monitor actions from the action plan. From an initial nine priorities, the group had now rationalised the initial nine areas into three key areas – connectivity, green recovery, and infrastructure.

COVID had changed the way residents worked, lived, and played. While life had begun to return to a degree of normality, people’s lives would be different. Home working was one such difference that would likely remain. There had also been a raised awareness of space standards, in both homes and gardens. Access to reliable broadband had also been highlighted by the pandemic. There was a growing appetite for green spaces.

Attempts were being made to address these issues through the planning system. The Local Plan was being re-examined with the aim of improving inclusivity, resilience, and sustainability in the Borough. The Local Authority was to examine how it could negotiate schemes so that they were designed holistically from the outset, looking at energy, site layouts and related infrastructure, and provision of electric vehicle charge points, amongst other provisions.

The Council had also engaged with residents. My Wild Telford was launched on Twitter to engage with residents and advertise the Borough’s green offer. Rights of Way in Telford were also promoted, with a Definitive Map of the area’s Rights of Way due to be published in December 2020, it had last been published in 1965. The new map would be available online and was considered both accessible and timely. The categorisation of public Rights of Way would also be examined, with officers looking at how important routes were, how they could be improved, and how to prioritise maintenance.

Members were informed that the Council had conducted a study on the value of its nature reserves. Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) received 3.6 million visits per year; 2.4 million of these visits were made by active travel and 1.2 million by car. Of the 3.6 million visits, 1.1 million were made by first time visitors.

The Council aimed to leave LNRs in a better state than they had been in the past; the Council had looked at a net gain approach that assigned a common numerical value to sites. The Borough had a value of 6819 biodiversity units (bu), or 12 per hectare. This was effectively £75 million worth of bu - £135,000 per hectare.  The value of woodlands had been examined; Telford & Wrekin had canopy cover over 15% of the Borough, higher than the national average. In terms of area, 49% of urban areas had canopy cover, compared to 8% in rural areas. Canopy cover also varied by ward, with Edgmond having the lowest (8%) and Ironbridge the highest (55%). The Council protected  ...  view the full minutes text for item ENVSC18

To receive and discuss the update of the Director: Communities, Customer and Commercial Services and the Climate Change & Sustainability Coordinator.

Councillor C Healy (Cabinet Member for Visitor Economy, Historic & Natural Environment and Climate Change) will also attend for this item.

The Director: Communities, Customer and Commercial Services delivered an update on the Council’s work to combat climate change.

The Council had declared a climate emergency in July 2019 and had a declared aim for carbon neutrality by 2030, for the Council, and the aspiration that the Borough would be carbon neutral by the same date. The Climate Change Action Plan was published in February 2020.

Despite the challenges presented in 2020, the Council had been delivering on its plan. Members heard that the Council had six new electric vans, with a value of 1 ton of carbon emissions saved; there was also the potential to replace further vehicles with electric vehicles in the future. The Council had also made progress with its sustainable buildings project, retrofitting buildings with solar panels and LED lighting. These were especially beneficial projects as they reduced emissions, saving 268t CO2e, and brought about costs savings and grant funding. Habitat creation had also created 9t CO2 storage from enhancing habitats. There had also been a pilot cutting scheme using hay from rich grassland in other areas.

Members were also informed of actions that had been delivered in the community. The Council’s Trees4TW scheme had been a success; having to be closed early due to the popularity of the scheme and the worry that oversubscription was likely. Work was also being carried out with the Council’s contractors to introduce carbon reduction plans and food recycling schemes.

Funding had been secured for new cycle stands and facilities and the Local Authority had been successful in a second round bid to carry out further work on cycling and footpath infrastructure.

The Council had engaged with residents over climate change actions; there had been campaigns to raise awareness for residents, a significant amount of work had been done around World Environment Day, campaigns on recycling week, and a reusable facemask campaign. Officers were encouraged by the responses received from residents in the Residents Survey. There was an strong appetite for greater action on climate change. 

A number of actions were in progress; eight more buildings would be retrofitted; officers were examining decarbonising heat and installing heat pumps; natural cooling was to be installed for the Councils data centre (an action brought forward from 2025).

NuPlace’s Southwater development had received planning approval and work would begin in early 2021. All units would have electric vehicle charge points and solar panels. A planning application for another site, at Donnington Wood Way, was also being submitted with the same environmental provisions and a number of additional features. Fifteen of the properties on the Donnington Wood Way site would be involved in a battery storage pilot scheme that would be monitored with a view to incorporating battery storage in future schemes.

A number of additional actions were under consideration such as a establishing a Climate Assembly, renewable generation auctions for residents, and verge rewilding amongst a range of other actions.

A discussion ensued and members asked a number of questions –

It was great  ...  view the full minutes text for item ENVSC19

No updates were proposed. The Committee would be looking at Waste & Recycling and Grounds & Cleansing Service Contract Procurement in the New Year. There would also be joint work with the Communities Scrutiny Committee on the Local Plan.

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