Issue - meetings

The Panel considered and discussed items for the work programme and action tracker for future meetings.

Audio Recording – 4 minutes 56 seconds

The Chair invited Georgina Chapman, Policy Team Leader to present. Ms. Chapman thanked the Chair, gave a presentation with slides and advised:

·         The Action Tracker would have a full review in the next Civic Year.

·         The main action of the tracker was to investigate environmental employment skills modules. The Policy team was currently undertaking research into vocational training, courses and modules from Hertfordshire College, University of Hertfordshire and the Open University.

·         Information for the next Green Careers Week was ready.

·         The Solar Together Scheme was run by the Council in partnership with HCCSP and iChoosr.

·         North Hertfordshire had the 2^nd highest registrations in the County, with installation of panels set to be complete by April.

·         Retrofitting was underway through the Sustainable Warmth Scheme and Fabric First Approach.

·         The Sustainable Warmth Scheme allowed eligible households to benefit from up to £10k of retrofitting.

·         The Fabric First Scheme was looking to fit 54 homes in North Hertfordshire, and installation would be completed shortly.

·         The Council was waiting on a decision to extend the scheme and to lift the cap on D-rated properties.

·         The Council was aiming to set higher sustainability standards through terms of sale agreements.

·         Clare Crescent, Baldock was used as a trial. Eight affordable flats and 16 private households would have applied sustainability measures as well as EV charging points, triple glazing and the fabric first approach.

·         The Council was looking at implementing this in other sites that they were planning to sell.

·         The Biodiversity baseline was an action plan created for the County, which was available for Officers to use.

·         The baselines would help in the development of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, identification of strategic sites for off-setting biodiversity, maximizing opportunities in the Environmental Land Management Scheme, measuring changes in biodiversity level and evaluating land considered for development.

The following Members and public participants asked questions:

·         John Webb

·         Deolinda Eltringham

·         Councillor Chris Hinchliff

·         Roger Lovegrove

In response to the questions, Ms. Chapman advised:

·         The Council was not able to implement sustainability measures through planning processes, but it was able to be a requirement for land being sold by the Council.

·         The flats at the site on Clare Crescent would have a higher insulation than the houses.

·         The lower uptake of the Solar Together Scheme was mainly due to cost.

The Chair thanked Ms. Chapman for her presentation.

The Chair invited Andrew Mills, Greenspace Manager, to present. Mr. Mills thanked the Chair, gave a verbal presentation and advised:

·         In 2019, the Council worked with Herts County Council’s Countryside Management Service to undertake a Wilding Audit of parks and open spaces within the District.

·         The Audit aimed the identify opportunities to improve biodiversity.

·         In 2020, implementation started in Letchworth, and the scheme was expanded in 2021 to Walsworth Common and Wilbury Recreation Ground.

·         Actions involved a change of maintenance and overseeding with a wildflower seed mix.

·         These areas were monitored last year, with the heatwave impacting the results.

·         The Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67