To consider the Climate Change report. [Report to follow]

Contact:  Mark Barrow  Tel 01742 358676

The Planning Policy and Strategy Manager introduced the report.  He advised that he was the Leader of the Climate Task Force which had been established in November 2019.  Members were reminded that Council declared a climate emergency in May 2019 and had approved the Climate Strategy Framework in December 2019, with the objective that the Council corporately would achieve net zero carbon by 2030. The Climate Strategy Framework set out how this would be achieved.

The Director of Place confirmed that carbon reduction policies ran through much of the work of the Council and the Council had a leadership role within the local communities to promote wider carbon reduction.  He continued that despite the importance of this work, central Government provided few formal grants for the work to be undertaken.  The Climate Task Force was promoting a better integrated narrative with Government.

The Planning Policy and Strategy Manager agreed that early investment to reduce carbon emissions would result in longer term savings through improved energy performance, he continued that it was now possible to begin measuring and quantifying benefits although this was still complicated.  The Sustainability Commissioning Officer added that emphasis was put on embedding renewable projects which were energy efficient and developing clear strategies with technical interventions to achieve these.

In response to a Member’s question, the Director of Place confirmed that planned changes to the use of Shirehall were being underpinned by a staff survey to assess the impact these would have on staff as well as work to fully understand the environmental impact of this change.

Members asked for further information on how the Covid-19 Pandemic had impacted on the Active Travel Strategy. The Director of Place confirmed that The Active Travel Strategy featured in LTP4 submissions to central government in applications for funding to provide electric buses.  Experimental transport regulation orders had been put into place which accelerated the increase in cycling and walking in Shrewsbury. 

Members noted a number of other initiatives in the areas of waste management, Marches Energy Agency, housing development and energy generation. 

The Planning Policy and Strategy Manager explained the meaning of Scope 1,2 and 3.  Which were terms derived from international greenhouse gas emissions and were standard definitions across the world.  With Scope 1 being emission produced by the Council’s own activity and Scope 3 was carbon emissions produced on the Council’s behalf by contractors.  He added that it was important to include all scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions when assessing carbon production. 

In response to a Member’s question, the Planning Policy and Strategy Manager confirmed that an extensive amount of work had been undertaken since the declaration of a climate emergency to embed and normalise climate change considerations in the Council’s strategies and corporate governance systems across the Council. Members noted the example of how the Climate Change Policy had been incorporated into the new Local Plan and other planning policies, as well as the other projects set out in the report.

The Director of Place responded to a Member’s query regarding the Council’s support for carbon reduction in the wider community, that is was important to confidently engage and influence through policies which encouraged higher standards.

The Planning Policy and Strategy Manager explained that it was important to be aware of the future impacts on climate change and be prepared for them through improving standards of design. It was anticipated that extreme weather would be more frequent, and this would impact on services.  The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change added that the Council was already considering local energy networks to generate energy to be returned to the national grid.  With green businesses being encouraged to relocate to the county with the view to making it a central base for the sector.

RESOLVED:

i)     That the progress being made towards the embedding and normalising climate change in the Council’s corporate governance, together with the projects and initiatives being developed as part of an action plan to deliver net-zero performance by 2030 be noted.

ii)    That the climate change draft action plan and quantified carbon budget be reviewed by the Communities Overview Committee in autumn 2020.