Issue - meetings
DRAFT SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY FEEDBACK
Meeting: 02/04/2025 - Cabinet Panel on the Environment (Item 13)
DRAFT SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY FEEDBACK
To receive a verbal update on the draft Sustainability Strategy feedback.
Decision:
A presentation was provided by the Climate Change and Sustainability Project Manager, Policy & Strategy Team Leader and the Policy & Strategy Officer on the feedback received on the Draft Sustainability Strategy.
Minutes:
Audio recording – 54 minutes 16 seconds
The Policy & Community Manager presented Appendix B to the Information Note entitled ‘Sustainability Strategy Draft Actions’ and advised that:
· A public consultation on the Sustainability Strategy took place in March.
· The Climate Change Strategy had been expanded into the Sustainability Strategy as sustainability was now a key council priority in the Council Plan.
· It covered many areas such as reducing emissions, climate change adaptation, biodiversity and cross cutting sustainability matters.
· These four areas would be covered in the following presentations from relevant officers.
The Climate Change and Sustainability Project Manager provided a presentation on reducing emissions and advised that:
· In the draft, there was a goal for the Council to achieve Net Zero by 2030 on its own operations which was also referenced in the Council Plan.
· Within that target, they would be focusing on their own buildings, vehicle fleet and key contracted services including waste collection, leisure centres and grounds maintenance which accounted for 90.4% of all council emissions.
· The biggest emissions contributor was gas usage from leisure centres and lidos which equated to 45% of all council emissions. Other key contributors were electricity use in leisure centres and gas use in council buildings.
· 9.6% of council emissions were from activities that the Council had less influence over such as staff working remotely and commuting. They had a target for these wider emissions to be Net Zero by 2040.
· There were still gaps in their knowledge about understanding emissions that arose from IT and smaller contracts, as well as emissions related to Council Estate.
· Key actions to reduce council emissions included delivering decarbonisation of leisure centres in North Herts by March 2026, implementing the use of sustainable low carbon fuels in heavy duty refuse collection vehicles, and wider measures to reduce fuel consumption in the waste collection service.
· Other actions included decarbonisation of key council buildings, particularly the District Council Offices, Hitchin Town Hall and North Herts Museum.
· Work would also take place with the Contracts Procurement Group to assess their supply chain of goods and materials and how they could utilise procurement to reduce emissions in this area.
· There was a longstanding target to achieve a North Herts Net Zero district by 2040.
· Key sources of district wide emissions from the biggest to smallest emissions contributors were transport, domestic, industry, waste, agriculture, commercial and public sector. Land use such as forestry had a slightly negative emissions contribution to the district.
· They had limited influence to drive national action, but they had an important role to play in the district by place shaping new residential and commercial developments as the Planning Authority.
· They could also engage in showcasing to influence district wide emissions by providing case studies of sustainability, for example developments that had met gold, silver or bronze targets in the SSPD.
· In addition, they could participate in partnerships to bring groups and stakeholders together to influence district wide emissions.
· It was important for the Council to engage with residents through ... view the full minutes text for item 13