Agenda, decisions and draft minutes
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Contact: Email: Committee.Services@north-herts.gov.uk 01462 474655
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE 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. Decision: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Dominic Griffiths. Minutes: Audio recording – 2 minutes 24 seconds
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Dominic Griffiths. |
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MINUTES - 11 FEBRUARY 2026 To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 11 February 2026. Decision: RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Committee meeting held on 11 February 2026 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair. Minutes: Audio Recording – 2 minutes 40 seconds
Councillor Amy Allen, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Emma Fernandes seconded and, it was:
RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 11 February 2026 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair. |
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CHAIR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS Climate Emergency
The Council has declared a climate emergency and is committed to achieving a target of zero carbon emissions by 2030 and helping local people and businesses to reduce their own carbon emissions.
A Cabinet Panel on the Environment has been established to engage with local people on matters relating to the climate emergency and advise the council on how to achieve these climate change objectives.
A Climate Change Implementation group of councillors and council officers meets regularly to produce plans and monitor progress. Actions taken or currently underway include switching to green energy, incentives for low emission taxis, expanding tree planting and working to cut food waste.
In addition the council is a member of the Hertfordshire Climate Change and Sustainability Partnership, working with other councils across Hertfordshire to reduce the county’s carbon emissions and climate impact. The Council’s dedicated webpage on Climate Change includes details of the council’s climate change strategy, the work of the Cabinet Panel on the Environment and a monthly briefing on progress.
Ecological Emergency
The Council has declared an ecological emergency and is committed to addressing the ecological emergency and nature recovery by identifying appropriate areas for habitat restoration and biodiversity net gain whilst ensuring that development limits impact on existing habitats in its process.
The Council has set out to do that by a) setting measurable targets and standards for biodiversity increase, in both species and quantities, seeking to increase community engagement, b) to work with our partners to establish a Local Nature Partnership for Hertfordshire and to develop Nature Recovery Networks and Nature Recovery Strategy for Hertfordshire and c) to investigate new approaches to nature recovery such as habitat banking that deliver biodiversity objectives and provide new investment opportunities.
Declaration of Interest
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. Decision: (1) The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be recorded.
(2) The Chair drew attention to the item on the Agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.
(3) The Chair reminded Members that the Council had declared both a Climate Emergency and an Ecological Emergency, and that Officers and Members should have this in mind when carrying out their various roles and tasks for the District. More details on this could be found on the Agenda front sheet.
(4) The Chair informed those present that the theme for this Panel meeting was ‘Waste and Recycling’ and that Officers from the Waste Team, as well as speakers from Veolia, Timberpak Pearce and Biogen were in attendance to present on this topic at Agenda Item 6.
(5) The Chair clarified the procedure for asking questions.
(6) The Chair advised of a change to the order of Agenda and Agenda Item 6 would be taken before Agenda Item 5. Minutes: Audio recording – 3 minutes 6 seconds
(1) The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be recorded.
(2) The Chair drew attention to the item on the Agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.
(3) The Chair reminded Members that the Council had declared both a Climate Emergency and an Ecological Emergency, and that Officers and Members should have this in mind when carrying out their various roles and tasks for the District. More details on this could be found on the Agenda front sheet.
(4) The Chair informed those present that the theme for this Panel meeting was ‘Waste and Recycling’ and that Officers from the Waste Team, as well as speakers from Veolia, Timberpak Pearce and Biogen were in attendance to present on this topic at Agenda Item 6.
(5) The Chair clarified the procedure for asking questions.
(6) The Chair advised of a change to the order of Agenda and Agenda Item 6 would be taken before Agenda Item 5.
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NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS 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. Decision: There was no other business notified. Minutes: Audio recording – 4 minutes 1 second
There was no other business notified. |
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PRESENTATIONS To receive presentations from the following organisations:
1) North Herts Council Waste Team and Veolia – New Waste Service Provision
2) Timberpak Pearce – Mixed Recycling Facilities
3) Biogen – Food Waste Recycling
Decision: Presentations were received from the Shared Waste Communication Officer and speakers on behalf of Veolia, Timberpak Pearce and Biogen, which covered various topics related to ‘Waste and Recycling’. Minutes: Audio recording – 4 minutes 6 seconds
The Chair invited Luke Ford from Biogen to give a presentation, supported by slides and images, on Food Waste Recycling. They thanked the Chair for the opportunity to present and advised that:
· Biogen operated 12 food waste plants, 12 food transfer stations, and 7 agricultural waste plants in the UK. · Organic food waste material was pre-processed and treated to produce biogas, which was used to produce renewable electricity for the national grid. · 691KG of carbon was offset by every tonne of food waste that they treated. · Biogen treated 500,000 tonnes of food waste annually across the UK and had over 180 employees. · Two of their food waste plants were in Hertfordshire, with one in Baldock, which treated the food waste collected in North Herts. · Fertiliser was also produced from the food waste treatment process, and this was supplied to local farms and displaced the use of carbon intensive, artificial fertilisers. · One tonne of food waste produced 450 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 900KG of fertiliser. · They worked with more than 40 local authorities, national retailers such as Asda, Aldi and Ocado, in addition to national manufacturers and total waste management providers. · Campaigns had been carried out with local authorities to encourage residents to segregate their waste to prevent contamination and increase recycling rates. · They had also worked with local authorities to change the way that they reported waste data in terms of carbon savings. · 15,000 tonnes of food waste was processed by Biogen in Hertfordshire per annum, which powered 2,500 homes. · Educational visits were made to local schools to provide social value. · Biogas production was projected to reach at least 50 terawatt-hours (TWH) by 2050 to help increase energy security. · Three of their facilities generated biogas, with a fourth under construction and a fifth granted planning permission. · Biogas would start to be used for sustainable aviation fuel under the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate. · The Government had also created a Renewable Transport Fuel Certificate, which would encourage the use of biogas in vehicles. · 26.4 TWH would be required to power UK data centres annually by 2030, and biogas could offer more flexibility than other renewable energy sources to match the peaks of energy demand associated with these.
The following Members asked questions:
· Councillor Claire Strong · Councillor Daniel Allen
In response to questions, Luke Ford advised that:
· The Baldock site was not open for the public to visit on an impromptu basis, but organised visits were accommodated when interest was raised. · Garden waste could not be processed at food waste plants, but they had trialled grass trimmings and crops at their agricultural waste plants. · The smell associated with the Baldock site was likely to come from the spreading of digestate across nearby fields rather than the anaerobic digestion process itself.
The Chair thanked Luke Ford for his presentation and invited the Shared Waste Communication Officer and Victoria Cooper from Veolia to give a presentation, supported by slides and images, on the New Waste Service Provision. They ... view the full minutes text for item 29. |
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INFORMATION NOTE: COUNCIL ACTIVITY UPDATE AND ACTION TRACKER INFORMATION NOTE OF THE POLICY & STRATEGY TEAM LEADER
This note highlights the topic for this Panel meeting as well as a Council Activity Update, and Action Tracker Review (at Appendix A) for the Cabinet Panel on the Environment.
Additional documents: Decision: Officers from the Policy and Strategy Team provided a verbal update on the Information Note entitled ‘Council Activity Update and Action Tracker’. Minutes: Audio recording – 1 hour 22 minutes 11 seconds
Officers from the Policy and Strategy Team provided a verbal update on the Information Note entitled ‘Council Activity Update and Action Tracker’ and advised that:
· There were no new actions on the Action Tracker, but this would be reviewed ahead of the next meeting in the new Civic Year. · The third round of Solar Together had closed and installations for this would be ending soon. Of the 650 interests registered, 73 solar installations and 69 battery installations had been made. · Hertfordshire County Council Flood Pilot Scheme to support communities become more resilient and prepared for future flooding remained open to applications. · The Council were working with the Hertfordshire Climate Change and Sustainability Partnership to support the delivery of a Retrofit Strategy. · 15,000 trees had been claimed across the district this year from the ‘Your Tree Our Future’ initiative. · The Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Hertfordshire was available to view on the Hertfordshire County Council website and residents could help by planting bee-friendly wildflowers, avoiding astroturf and building fence holes for hedgehogs. · Two areas in Hitchin were no longer Air Quality Management Areas as air quality had remained below national limits for 5 years. However, air quality would continue to be monitored in these areas. · Decarbonisation works at Royston Leisure Centre had been complete with works at other leisure centres in the district due to be finished by the summer. · Design work for the decarbonisation of Hitchin Town Hall, North Herts Museum and North Herts Leisure Centre learner pool was progressing. · A report on greenhouse gas emissions for the Council and the wider district had been published on the Council website. · John O’Connor would be holding a community bee event in Baldock on 4 April 2026 to expand the Bee Corridor in North Herts and more information about this could be found on the Council website and Climate Hive. · The Council were partnering with Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation to host a community energy event at Broadway Cinema in Letchworth in June and tickets were available for this on the Broadway Cinema website. · Work on delivering the actions within the Sustainability Strategy had continued. · Use of hydrogenated vegetable oil in refuse vehicles had saved 368KG of carbon from May to November 2025 and new electric refuse vehicles would enable further reductions. · 81% of staff had completed the Sustainability e-learning module and 11 staff were now certified as Carbon Literate. · 12 installations had been made through the Warm Homes Local Grant scheme in the first year, and a further 10 properties had been surveyed for the second year. · The Council app now had over 17,000 downloads. · A process had been put in place to record and monitor the impact of extreme weather events on Council services. · More wild areas had been established across the district, including a wild meadow at Wilbury Hills Cemetery. · A salary sacrifice scheme had been launched for staff to help them invest in lower emission vehicles and support a ... view the full minutes text for item 30. |
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public. Decision: The Chair led a discussion with members of the public under the ‘Presentations’ and ‘Information Note’ items at the meeting. Minutes: Audio recording – 1 hour 29 minutes 44 seconds
It was advised that there was no specific participation from members of the public at this meeting, but that public participants had been included as part of discussions on Agenda Items 5 and 6. |