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Agenda item

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

Decision:

The Chair invited Julia Sonander, Transition Town Letchworth, to address the Panel.

 

Julia Sonander thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the panel.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 14 minutes 31 seconds.

 

The Chair invited Julia Sonander, Transition Town Letchworth (TTL), to address the Panel.

 

Julia Sonander gave a presentation on Transition Town Letchworth’s suggestions for future climate action policy, including:

 

·                TTL had observed that 5 minute speaking slots per group for contributions at Panel meetings were not sufficient, especially for a group which could engage with a discussion on a range of themes;

·                It was unclear whether the Panel had properly scrutinised papers submitted by members of the public and discussions after presentations often focussed on verbal presentation rather than papers;

·                Issues which engaged multiple decision making bodies had been directed to the Panel as they concerned the environment which hampered potential changes in policy;

·                It had been unclear to which body within the Council a given issue should be addressed, e.g cycle infrastructure;

·                TTL had encouraged NHDC to adopt an ambitious emissions reduction target to be introduced through planning policy and to ensure that all new homes met the highest energy efficiency standards allowed under the National Planning Policy Framework;

·                The government had released the response to its Future Homes Standard consultation carried out in 2019;

·                The government had acknowledge that there was a need to remind local planning authorities (LPAs) of the role that government expects Local Plans to play in developing a greener built environment;

·                The government had announced it would not amend the Planning and Energy Act 2008 and that LPAs would retain the power to set local energy efficiency standards for new homes;

·                This announcement was important for NHDC as the local plan examinations were coming to an end and developments were already being proposed for planning approval;

·                TTL wanted to see supplementary planning documents requiring the highest energy efficiency standards and 0-Carbon readiness in new housing developments, and for NHDC to establish a working group to examine the potential of these retained powers;

·                In conversation with other groups in the Transition Town network, TTL had looked at the approach to public engagement taken by other local authorities and encouraged the creation of working groups, and moving away from the Panel format focussed on talking towards seeing actions taken.

 

The Chair thanked Julia Sonander for her presentation.

 

The Chair opened a discussion with Members, Officers and public participants including:

 

·                SPDs and planning regulations work was ongoing to bring about a Passivhaus standard;

·                The Transport Users Forum existed to examine work on things like cycling infrastructure and was actively working on that topic;

·                The Cabinet Panel on the Environment existed to discuss issues and generate policy and was supportive of moving towards taking more direct action;

·                Papers and presentations submitted by the public were of great use to the Panel and essential in benchmarking the goals of the Panel and policies of the Council;

·                Cross-cutting issues that engaged a range of Council bodies and outside partners were difficult, e.g biodiversity and water use minimisation;

·                Work was ongoing on water use minimisation including discussions with Affinity Water and public awareness/encouragement campaigns;

·                The Local Plan and associated SPDs had been in development for a long time and the legislative framework did not always allow the Council to push for environmental standards; this was now a regular feature of planning discussions; e.g electric vehicle charging points were a standard condition of every approval;

·                The Task & Finish Groups arising from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were a good working model the Panel could benefit from emulating;

·                Planning and discussion over delivery was a problem across government;

·                Members of the Panel would appreciate the Leader of the Council attending meetings and increased public scrutiny;

·                If the Local Plan is approved a significant number of Section 106 agreements are likely to come in future generating funds for infrastructure projects including cycle paths;

·                There were a range of voluntary groups and other organisations in the District which could be mobilised to assist with actions on cycle paths, tree planting, and other environmental works;

·                Internal briefings ensured that the Leader of the Council and senior officers were up to date with the work of the Panel;

·                The problems facing Council implementation and action on climate policies included budgetary concerns but also logistical problems like workforce and land holdings; e.g tree planting, where there was budget land was harder to find;

·                Rewilding options were being considered by the Council’s green space management team in consultation with the Countryside Management Service;

·                Local residents’ action groups such as Action for Insects had worked productively with the Council in the past and were keen to continue this working relationship and take on more sites and projects;

·                The Green Space Management Policy was being reviewed to reflect a change in emphasis to biodiversity and there was scope to involve local groups to utilise resources the Council did not have access to e.g volunteers and specific expertise;

·                Local landowners could be engaged with to volunteer to meet the Council’s land resourcing needs;

·                Ongoing management plans were essential for any tree planting efforts undertaken by the Council;

·                Explaining to residents that rewilding measures and changes to mowing patterns on grass verges and other green spaces was a deliberate policy decision not a failure of maintenance was an ongoing issue; volunteers had promoted public awareness campaigns on this;

·                The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill was an opportunity for the Council to take a public leadership stance on ecological issues.

 

The Chair thanked Members, officers and public speakers for participating in the debate.

 

N.B the Chair called for a comfort break at 5 minutes to 9:00 PM.

 

The Panel reconvened at 9:01PM and the Committee, Member and Scrutiny Officer conducted a rollcall.

Supporting documents: