Agenda and draft minutes

None.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 October 2024.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2024 be agreed and signed by the Chair.

To receive a verbal update on the Council’s landfill management.

The Director: Neighbourhood & Enforcement Services provided Members with a verbal update on Landfill Management in Telford and Wrekin. Members heard that a written report would be presented at the next formal meeting of the Environment Scrutiny Committee scheduled to take place in February 2025 and would outline the approach taken to manage landfill sites across the borough including testing and continued monitoring of sites.

Members heard that landfill sites were identified as one of the oldest common forms of waste disposal in the UK and that Telford & Wrekin Council were currently responsible for the management of landfill operations at three licensed sites including the operational Granville site located in Redhill as well as the Candle site located in Horsehay and the Stoney Hill site located in Lightmoor which were now closed and were no longer receiving waste.

The report due to be presented to Committee would also look to provide an overview of the contaminated land strategy, which was currently in the process of being refreshed.

Following the update, Members posed the following questions:-

After speaking with the Environment Agency, I understand that the results of the recent sulphate tests conducted had not been shared. Could the Council confirm when these results would be made available?

The Director: Neighbourhood & Enforcement Services confirmed that a series of testing for hydrogen sulphate had taken place and results of those tests would be shared with Members in the near future.

There had been a number of complaints relating to potholes on Grange Lane by the Granville Landfill site in Redhill which had not been filled. I understand that the landfill operator had agreed to fill the potholes but had only completed a section of the road with the remaining section leading up to the works entrance untouched. As part of the planning application, was the operator responsible for restoring the road back to its original condition?

 The Development Manager Service Delivery Manager advised that as part of the conditions granted, the operator would need to comply and take responsibility for restoring the highway back to its original form.

Who was responsible for older landfill sites in the Borough and what plans were in place to maintain them?

The Director: Neighbourhood & Enforcement Services advised that he was not aware of any older landfill sites situated in the Borough but would provide a further update to committee on the Council’s work to maintain current sites.

To note and review the Council’s progress on becoming Carbon Neutral.

The Climate Change & Sustainability Team Leader presented the report to Committee which provided an update on the progress the Council has made over the last 12 months to meet its target of becoming Carbon Zero by 2030 and the additional work undertaken to reduce carbon emissions by 61% including the development of a corporate climate change risk register.

In 2019, the Council declared a Climate Emergency and set out an ambitious target to ensure its activities and operations are carbon neutral by 2030. The report highlighted ongoing improvements the Council has made to key buildings including further improvements to the Council’s operational estate including the installation of energy efficiency measures.

Members heard that Oakengates Leisure Centre had received a £2.2m investment which saw the installation of a new air source heat pump and insulation, enabling the EPC rating to increase to B from a previous rating of C. Horsehay Village Gold Course has benefited from the installation of new solar panels, battery storage and EV charging points resulting in an energy saving of 65MWh. The Council had also recently applied for a £1.1m grant for Wellington Leisure Centre to cover the cost of the installation an air source heat pump and further insulation.

The report highlighted how the Council had continued its investment into housing schemes such as NuPlace which had seen 30 homes built at the Donnington Wood site with EV charging points and a further 7 homes built to Future Homes standards to ensure the Council continues to provide properties that are more affordable to heat, tackling fuel poverty and health impacts of living in cold and damp conditions.

The Council has previously delivered a wide range of projects to support people in fuel poverty including 10 off gas properties retrofitted with 22 energy efficiency measures using funding from phase 1 of the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG1). A further 25 properties had been included in the application process for the next phase of the grant programme. The Local Authority Delivery Scheme (LAD2) scheme was also used to retrofit 50 homes in Sutton Hill with 77 energy efficiency measures, including external wall insulation, loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, double glazing and solar panels, reducing heating bills by £640 per year. Through its Warm and Well Telford grant, the Council had continued to provide partial glazing, external doors and heating controls for 50 eligible properties.

Members heard that the Quad located in the Station Quarter development was the first Council building to receive an EPC rating of A for environmental performance and B for energy with a further 189 affordable homes planned to be built.

Further funding had also been delivered into cycle routes as part of the Council’s Active Travel Scheme and the Council had also recently introduced a new car club for staff to reduce business milage emissions. Delivery had started on new charging points across the Borough following a £1.2m investment for on street charging points and initiatives such as the Bike Hub had continued to support  ...  view the full minutes text for item ENVSC38

To receive an update on the Green Pledge.

The Ecology and Green Infrastructure Specialist provided Members with a verbal update on the work undertaken to establish a new biodiversity accreditation scheme known as the Green Pledge.

Following a brief provided by the Cabinet Member: Neighbourhoods, Planning & Sustainability in Spring 2024, the Council had produced two variations of the Green Pledge scheme and were now seeking feedback from the Environment Scrutiny Committee on branding and recommendations for sites, projects, partnership organisations and applicant engagement.

Members heard that version one of the Green Pledge closely resembled existing projects that were already administered by the Council such as the Green Guarantee Scheme but with a focus on areas of privately owned public open space. The Pledge would look to follow similar criteria to the Green Guarantee Scheme by way of protecting land and would prevent landowners from changing the use of the land away from public open space without further consultation with the Council.

When considering a site suitable for Green Pledge accreditation, a number of criteria would need to be met including ownership, local support, ecological value and connectivity, green network recognition and recreation. Acceptance of sites into the scheme would also earmark them for additional protection in the future including local wildlife site status.

Members also heard that the Council’s Green Network was in the process of being updated as part of the Local Plan which would help to identify suitable sites across the Borough. At the time of the meeting, the Council were current focusing on adoption of sites which were part of new and existing residential development but not owned by the Council such as the land around Lawley, Lightmoor and Ketley Millennium Village.

Version two of the Green Pledge Scheme was based on several internal and external projects delivered by the Council’s Ecology Team including the Green Guarantee Scheme, the Potters Landfill Trust Scheme and the Severn Trent Grant Scheme and would have a bigger focus on business owners, enabling organisations to demonstrate their commitment to local biodiversity. To enable the Scheme to offer fair and equitable access without penalizing organsiations for lack of land ownership, three categories had been created which landowners and/or organisations could apply for with each category having a tiered commitment system.

Members heard that the Green Space category would enable landowners and/or business owners to designate a portion of their land as protected green space for an allotted amount of time. Applicants would be encouraged to create a management plan for their open green space, either to maintain or enhance the condition and landowners could commit to one of three levels which would see land protected up to 30 years with no development or sale.

The second category of the Pledge referred to as Green Time would allow business owners to offer a set amount of volunteer hours per year. Volunteer hours could be spread between employees of an organisations and business owners could commit to one of three levels which would see up to 150 volunteer hours allocated across one  ...  view the full minutes text for item ENVSC39

To review the updated Work Programme for the Environment Scrutiny Committee.

The Lead Lawyer: Property & Commercial presented the updated work programme to the Committee. The next two formal meetings were scheduled to take place in February and April 2025 and would look at items on the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, Biodiversity Duty and Climate Change Adaptation.

The Chair provided an update on the formal report due to be presented to Committee at the next formal meeting on Landfill Management in Telford and Wrekin which would look to address concerns raised by residents.