Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Carol Stanier and Gerald Morris.

Having given due notice, Councillor Claire Strong substituted for Councillor Morris.

Audio Recording – 3 minutes 20 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Carol Stanier and Gerald Morris.

Having given due notice, Councillor Claire Strong substituted for Councillor Morris.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 11 January 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 3 minutes 33 seconds

The Chair moved the Minutes for approval and it was:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 11 January 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded as well as filmed. The audio recording would be available on mod Gov or via the Council’s YouTube Channel.

(2)  That Chair reminded Members to make declarations of interest before an item, the detailed reminder about this and speaking rights was set out under the Chair’s announcements on the agenda front sheet.

(3)  The Chair reminded Members that the Council had declared a Climate Emergency. This was a serious decision and means that, as this was an emergency, all of us, Officers and Members had that in mind as we carried out our various roles and tasks for the benefit of our District.

(4)  The Chair agreed to change the order of the published agenda, with Item 7 ‘Information Note: Work Programme and Action Tracker 2022/2023’ ahead of Item 5 ‘Public Participation’.

Audio Recording – 3 minutes 48 seconds

(1)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded as well as filmed. The audio recording would be available on mod Gov or via the Council’s YouTube Channel.

(2)  That Chair reminded Members to make declarations of interest before an item, the detailed reminder about this and speaking rights was set out under the Chair’s announcements on the agenda front sheet.

(3)  The Chair reminded Members that the Council had declared a Climate Emergency. This was a serious decision and means that, as this was an emergency, all of us, Officers and Members had that in mind as we carried out our various roles and tasks for the benefit of our District.

(4)  The Chair agreed to change the order of the published agenda, with Item 7 ‘Information Note: Work Programme and Action Tracker 2022/2023’ ahead of Item 5 ‘Public Participation’

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

There was no other business notified.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

Presentations were received by the Cabinet Panel including from:

·         Roger Lovegrove

·         John Webb

Audio Recording – 84 minutes 55 seconds

The Chair invited Roger Lovegrove to present. Mr. Lovegrove thanked the Chair and gave a presentation, with slides and advised:

·         There was a keen interest to get zero carbon housing introduced into new estates.

·         He called for the Council to specify that no mains gas should be enabled in large new estates in the new SPD.

·         With the Climate Emergency and the significant increase in gas prices, alternative heating methods were available.

·         The Local Plan stated that the SPD was highly relevant in the promotion of sustainable development, which could justify the ban of gas on larger estates.

·         A true zero carbon home would require around 3kilowatts of heating due to high insulation, a mechanical heat recovery system, its compact design and large south-facing windows with shading.

·         There would also be adjacent car parking facilities with EV charging points and an unheated area for storage or recycling.

·         Bricks were not good insulators, water or air tight and had a high carbon content. Wooden frames with rigid insulation could be used instead.

·         By declaring no gas would be used to heat larger estates, this could force developers to take insulation and draft-proofing seriously.

·         North Hertfordshire District Council could implement a no gas policy before 2025.

The Chair thanked Mr. Lovegrove for his presentation.

The Chair invited John Webb to present. Mr.Webb thanked the Chair and provided a verbal presentation, which included that:

·         He had concerns about some of the statements made at the previous meeting of the Panel, specifically that depending on how, when and where they are purchased, electric vehicles were not necessarily more expensive than fossil fuels vehicles.

·         Electric vehicles do not increase levels of particulate matter in the air.

The Chair commented that reducing travel was an important part of reducing emissions. Electric vehicles were certainly preferable to cars that run on fossil fuels, but construction carbon impacts and if the electric used to charge them was from renewable energy sources should be considered.

The Chair thanked Mr. Webb for his presentation.

Deborah Coates, Principle Strategic Planning Officer, provided a verbal update on the Sustainability Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

Audio Recording – 95 minutes 52 seconds

The Chair invited Deborah Coates, Principle Strategic Panning Officer to present. Ms. Coates thanked the Chair, gave a presentation with slides and advised:

·         The SPD was currently in the draft phase, and once finished would go to consultation.

·         The SPD built upon the current Local Plan policies, but did not form part of the development plan.

·         The SPD would provide further technical interpretation of requirements, processes that needed to be followed and expand on ‘directions of travel’.

·         Sustainability referred to the means by which we meet our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

·         The SPD would consider the work of HCCSP, which covered water sustainability, biodiversity, carbon reduction and transport.

·         The Sustainability Development Goals from Central Government were also being considered.

·         The SPD Technical guidance would cover energy efficiency, low carbon energy, passive design, EV charging points, waste, materials and water use.

·         The North Hertfordshire Sustainability standards would also be considered.

·         The SPD looked to introduce Sustainability Standards rated Low/Medium/High.

The Chair thanked Ms. Coates for her presentation, commented that there were benefits for developers to deliver more than the minimum standard outlined in the SPD.

The following Members and public participants asked questions:

·         Roger Lovegrove

·         John Webb

·         Deolinda Eltringham

In response to the questions, Ms. Coates advised:

·         The Council cannot require developers to build to a higher level than the building regulations, but they can encourage them.

·         The review of Local Plan could do more to ensure developers build to higher standards.

·         Circularity could be addressed in the SPD.

The Chair thanked Ms. Coates for her presentation.

Deolinda Eltringham asked if Council Tax could be redesigned to be lower for more energy-efficient houses, which could make them more favourable for purchase.

The Chair commented that the Council could not do that due to constraints. There was discussion around a change in Council Tax band if the capital value of a house was increased and its running costs were decreased, but the impact of that was unsure. The Council does not have influence in some areas such as carbon reduction and nature recovery, but aimed to set an example to the community and lobby the government to do more.

The Chair advised that this was the last meeting of the civic year, and that items for the work programme for the next civic year needed to be considered. Water and sewage and community energy should be considered as topics for the programme.

John Webb advised that the charity Transition Town Letchworth was being shut down in August 2023, and a discussion group with Letchworth Arts and Leisure group was being formed called DeCarbonise Letchworth.

The Chair commented that this was sad news, and the charity had reached beyond Letchworth in its work.

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.