Agenda, decisions and draft 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 Dominic Griffiths and Lisa Nash.

Audio recording – 3 minutes 46 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dominic Griffiths and Lisa Nash.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 14 January 2026.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Committee meeting held on 14 January 2026 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 4 minutes 3 seconds

Councillor Amy Allen, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Claire Strong seconded and, it was:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 14 January 2026 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

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.

(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 advised that section 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution did not apply to this meeting.

(4)         The Chair informed those present that the theme for this Panel meeting was ‘Sustainability in Schools’, and that speakers from schools around Hertfordshire were in attendance to present on this topic at Agenda Item 6.

(5)         The Chair highlighted the final agenda item which was to consider suggestions of items for future meetings, and asked Members and members of the public to consider any items that they may wish to suggest ahead of this item.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 29 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. These are serious decisions, and mean 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 informed those present that the theme for this Panel meeting was ‘Sustainability in Schools’, and that speakers from schools around Hertfordshire were in attendance to present on this topic at Agenda Item 6.

(5)         The Chair highlighted the final agenda item which was to consider suggestions of items for future meetings, and asked Members and members of the public to consider any items that they may wish to suggest ahead of this item.

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.

Audio recording – 5 minutes 32 seconds

There was no other business notified.

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.

Officers from the Policy and Strategy Team provided a verbal update on the Information Note entitled ‘Council Activity Update and Action Tracker’.

Audio recording – 7 minutes 2 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:

·                The third round of Solar Together had closed, but more installations continued to be completed with 73 done so far, totalling over 700 panels.

·                Hertfordshire County Council were expanding their Flood Kit Pilot Scheme by inviting more communities that had experienced flooding or were susceptible to register their interest.

·                Flood kits comprised equipment tailored to meet the risk profiles of each community, and they were designed to be kept in an accessible, central storage unit on public land.

·                All actions on the Action Tracker had been completed but any actions arising from this meeting would be added to the tracker in consultation with the Chair.

·                The Council were working with Hertfordshire County Council to deliver the priorities and actions within the Local Nature Recovery Strategy which had been published and launched in January at a nature summit event.

·                The project to decarbonise leisure centres was progressing, and design work for the decarbonisation of other Council facilities such as North Herts Museum had also progressed as part of phase two of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

·                The Council engagement hub for climate change and sustainability, known as the Climate Hive, now had 985 subscribers and continued to keep subscribers updated on the latest consultations, eco events, Council activities and more.

·                Over £63,000 had been awarded from the Sustainable Communities Grant to six local organisations to carry out sustainability projects last year.

·                Updates on those projects would be provided soon, except the project at Royston Museum as they had already installed a heat pump system, which they were feeling the benefit of.

·                Monthly sustainability briefings which included information on funding, upcoming events and Council activity were available to view on the Council website.

·                Actions in the Sustainability Strategy continued to be monitored on a quarterly basis by the Climate and Sustainability Officer Group and Political Liaison Board.

·                Decarbonisation works to leisure centres across the district were targeted to be finished by the summer.

·                Hydrogenated vegetable oil was in use in all refuse vehicles, and new electric vehicles had arrived and were in use for street cleansing purposes. 

·                A sustainability e-learning module covering sustainability aims and how Council staff could contribute to these had been launched internally. 

·                New EV charge points had gone live across Council car parks.

·                Work on the Warm Homes Local Grant continued to progress, and the scheme had been advertised in the Winter Outlook Magazine.

·                The new Council App had almost 16,000 downloads and continued to contribute towards improving recycling rates.

·                A process to record and monitor the impacts of extreme weather events on services had been implemented across the Council.

·                More updates on Council activity would be issued at the next Panel meeting.

·                If Members or members of the public wished to contact the Cabinet Panel outside of meetings, they could do this through the dedicated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

To receive presentations from the following organisations:

1)         Icknield Infant and Nursery School – On-Site Biodiversity Project

2)         Hitchin Boys School – Green Initiatives and Student Involvement

3)         Buntingford First School – First Carbon Neutral School in the Country

Presentations were received from speakers on behalf of Icknield Infant and Nursery School, Buntingford First School and Hitchin Boys School, which covered various projects and initiatives related to ‘Sustainability in Schools’.

Audio recording – 18 minutes 57 seconds

The Chair informed those present that the education sector was responsible for 36% of public sector building emissions and that there were many opportunities for carbon to be cut in this sector, as well as embed sustainability into schools. The Chair also advised that there were several initiatives available for schools such as Eco-Schools, Lets Go Zero and Solar Schools, and links to these would be provided.

The Chair invited Nick Dean to give a presentation, supported by slides and images, on biodiversity improvement projects at Icknield Infant and Nursery School. They thanked the Chair for the opportunity to present and advised that:

·                They were the Caretaker and Site Manager at the school.

·                All vegetation on their school grounds had been manicured up until 2021.

·                They decided to change this after a study revealed little to no vegetation or wildlife on the extensive greenspace within the school.

·                Bee Orchid Rosette locations started to be identified and marked in 2022, and 45 of these reached the flowering stage.

·                No mow areas and a 500 square foot seasonal flower meadow were introduced to the school grounds in 2023, which resulted in the flowering of 125 Bee Orchids and 2 Pyramidal Orchids the following year.

·                Three public tours of the site were conducted to showcase the work that had been undertaken on-site, and £50 was donated by visitors towards its upkeep.

·                Only 20 Bee Orchids had flowered in 2025 due to a dry period before summer. However, approximately 150 Bee Orchid Rosettes had been spotted so far in 2026.

·                One new fruit tree had been planted by each class in their orchard on Arbor Day, and year 2 pupils would be planting more trees at Standalone Farm.

·                Volunteers helped to run gardening clubs, sow seeds and plant vegetation in their allotment area.

·                A Fairyland Woodland would be introduced, which would include a log pile habitat to increase the minibeast population.

·                Animals spotted on their site included Robins, Wagtails, Black Squirrels, Hedgehogs and Foxes, and insects such as Crickets, Butterflies, Beetles and Digger Wasps had been present too. 

·                An Eco Council had been formed at the school in 2026 to drive eco mentality at the school and get the children more involved with projects.

·                After being awarded £5,000 from the Royal Horticultural Society Grant to convert a grey space to a green one, the preference to build a pond had been expressed after pupils on the Eco Council had consulted their classmates.

·                A local company called Women With Waders would build the pond over half-term and supply 50% of the pond vegetation for free as they had a vested interest in the project. As a result, the cost of the pond would be fully covered by the grant.

·                Birds and frogs would be attracted to the pond, and there would be space within the fencing around the pond for a beehive to further increase pollination and biodiversity on-site.

The following members of the public asked questions:

·                Diane  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

The Chair led a discussion with members of the public under the ‘Presentations’ and ‘Information Note’ items at the meeting.

Audio recording – 1 hour 51 minutes 30 seconds

The Chair 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.

To consider items for discussion at future meetings of the Cabinet Panel.

The Chair led a discussion to consider items for future meetings of the Cabinet Panel with Members and members of the public present.

Audio recording – 1 hour 51 minutes 33 seconds

The Chair led a discussion to consider items for future meetings of the Cabinet Panel with Members and members of the public present.

The following Members took part in the discussion:

·                Councillor Emma Fernandes

·                Councillor Joe Graziano

The following points were raised as part of the discussion:

·                There had been a Government report in January on a national security assessment relating to biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse.

·                Concern had been raised over food security and provision in the event of a breakdown.

·                Grant schemes related to insulation and heating should be further signposted to those on low incomes as there were lots of people who were still unaware of them.

In response to points raised in the discussion, the Chair advised that any further suggested items for future meetings could be emailed to the Environment Panel Inbox after the meeting.

The Chair advised that suggested items would be considered, alongside Officers, for inclusion at future meetings of the Cabinet Panel.

The Chair thanked members of the public for their participation at the meeting and speakers for their presentations, in addition to Officers and Members.