To receive any questions submitted from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 30 and 30A.
Minutes:
Councillor A Brown submitted a question in accordance with the Constitution:
“RCC stopped short of declaring a climate emergency and subsequently set up a Task and Finish group to look at bio-diversity. The bio-diversity task and Finish Group has now completed its work. I consider this to be very small first step in the things RCC need to do to combat the climate emergency. What will this council be doing next on this very important matter, and what is the timescale? The one thing we do not have much of is time”.
In response Councillor G Brown
I would remind Cllr Brown that when I presented the Motion to Council in October that I explained that we should not declare an Emergency but lay out an Action Plan and proceed to deal with the issues we face. Unfortunately, our initial progress has not been as rapid as I had wished with the personnel changes we have experienced in the Places Director level as well as in Property and Highways and now Environment. In addition, the time taken with the Local Plan and Council Budget over the last 3 months has also impacted on the work.
It is not possible to set out a fully comprehensive pathway to net zero in our initial plan, a?s the government has not yet mapped its plans for the country. Decarbonising some sectors, such as heat, will require national policy to direct the relevant technologies and provide a framework for action.
Work has been started in a number of areas and I am looking forward to receiving the Bio-diversity Task & Finish Group report.
In partnership with the Sustainable Land Trust we have taken the following actions so far:
· Initial consultation into land based issues and actions – including a survey of stakeholders of which the results analysed and ready to be presented.
· Liaison with organisations interested in becoming partners
· Liaison with members of the public who attended the consultation meeting on 28th November
· Creation of Rutland CAN brand, (Climate Action Network) Facebook page and Twitter/ Instagram account
· Sustainable Land Trust application to become members of the international Climate Action Network
· Expression of Interest submitted to National Lottery Climate Fund for funding for 2 officers (1 x land, 1 x infrastructure (housing, transport, industry, etc), plus marketing and resources
· Brought together SLT to work with Kendrew Barracks to undertake mass tree planting
The next steps for the partnership are
1. Meeting with partners and interested members of public on 31st March at 7.30pm at VAR. Councillors are welcome to attend
2. Collate baseline information, set targets and indicators and agree priorities for action.
3. Create action plan and timetable.
4. Identify and apply for funding/ donations/ contracts to deliver plan and timetable.
5. Marketing the Rutland CAN concept and broadening the membership so that every person and parish knows about the group
6. Identify locations for land based actions/ initiatives and work with relevant land owners.
7. Cost the initiatives and determine where funding/ income will be sourced.
One of my concerns has been our general lack of knowledge about climate change and the processes to get to net zero carbon. I am currently working through the Carbon Literacy Project e-learning module they also provide both direct training and also e-training – something we might consider if we are all quarantined in the next few weeks.
We are already ahead of other local authorities with the installation of the LED street lights which provided a reduction in energy use by over 60%
The waste management strategy has been drafted and will go out for consultation this week. You will recall that Rutland County Council are in the top twenty authorities for recycling with only just over 2% of our total waste ending up in landfill with the rest being either recycled or the energy recovered from incineration.
In line with the NPPF the Local Plan has provided a positive strategy for energy from renewable sources and identified suitable areas for renewable and low carbon energy sources and supporting infrastructure.
I will issue an updated schedule of the Action Plan for members shortly which will include the work we are doing with schools, our contact with the Rutland Youth Council
To date there have been no direct costs incurred by the Council other than the Electric Vehicle Charging point at Catmose.