Agenda item

A report by the Climate Change and Environment Manager

The Climate Change and Environment Manager presented the report supported by Portfolio Holder Councillor Paul Skinner.

Members were advised that the strategy was the next stage in the Climate Change programme moving beyond the confines of the Boroughs own carbon footprint to look at wider issues in the local communities. The strategy looked to drive down carbon emissions and ensure a more sustainable way of working.  It would also deliver benefits to health and wellbeing and offer opportunities around training, local skills and in general around a number of social value aspects.

The Strategy would present a strong message both locally and nationally that the three authorities are taking a lead in establishing a collaborative approach with partners and stakeholders.  Whilst the three authorities are at differing stages with differing commitments in terms of their own carbon aspirations, overall they would be working strategically as a whole.  Co-ordination would be key as the Council could not address many issues in isolation but it was in a good position to lead by example.  Furthermore, by establishing the document it would prove the strategic need for the authorities in securing future external funding.

The consultation process would be lengthy and key areas had already been identified based on existing data from the Department for Business, Energy and Industry and from local knowledge.

The initial working group agreed that a key point in establishing the strategy would be to convene a Climate Change Assembly and steps on how to establish one were underway with consideration of existing networks to provide a steer on the best way forward. The vision was that local authorities would provide support to a Climate Action Network but it would have its’ own Chairman and once it was established and it adopted the document, one task would be to look at establishing the delivery plan.

Boston Cabinet had already approved the document for consultation with and East Lindsey District Council set to approve it, at its forthcoming Executive meeting.  The launch date for consultation across the two Councils’ would be on 10^th November 2021 to enable capture of all the activity from COP26 for inclusion in the process.  The consultation would run through to the middle of December 2021 with all stakeholders invited to attend a workshop in either Boston or Louth.  Moving forward, once the document included all the feedback from the consultation, Cabinet and the Executive would receive the final document prior to seeking adoption by Full Council in Spring 2022.

Work with South Holland District Council was at an early stage, however their Scrutiny and Executive would receive a report prior to the end of the year and with their consultation scheduled for early 2022, Officers were confident of alignment of the final strategy across the three authorities.

Significant committee deliberation followed which included the following:

In response to a question querying the lack of reference to new build developments and the standard of products required for installation, the Climate Change and Environment Manager advised that the subject sat within the build environment section of the draft strategy. Members needed to be mindful of what was set in policy, with anything in the strategy needing to align with the existing planning policy, together with a new Environment Bill scheduled for Royal Ascent along with a new Planning Bill, both of which would result in significant change.  Officers recognised that due to the changes of policy that would eventually be implemented, ongoing new builds with existing fittings could require retro fitting once the new policies were in place.  The Council had employed a Sustainability Development Officer who was identifying gaps in policy and was working alongside Officers in Boston.

The Portfolio Holder advised that there was no fixed direction on how to build a house and a Member stated that many existing houses within Boston were sited in an unsuitable position to benefit from solar panels and suggested that moving forward, developers needed to look at the design and elevation of estate developments to maximise collection of power.

A further Member of the committee stated that emerging technology would be essential in ensuring that the building of future homes contributed to carbon aspirations.  He further noted that he was confident that building regulations would eventually align with policy but also voiced concern at the low land values and their viability and impact on the residual land available.  Homes would become more expensive to build and future decisions on developments would require consideration of the need for section 106 agreements against the need for the homes.

Referencing the Boston Alternative Energy Facility (BAF) a Member stated they had concerns on the CO2 emissions from the chimney on the plant whilst another Member asked if the site would actually provide a nett gain on such emissions and further questioned the positon in respect of the Biomass Power Station

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that the BAF project would have 3 lines with 2 capturing carbon.  There were not too many facilities producing carbon capture efficiently and with the recent lack of supply of C02 the site would provide a good source for the food valley. 

The Assistant Director – Regulatory(and Lead Officer for the Committee) confirmed that emission standards were very stringent and the application for BAF was with the National Planning Inspector. If granted, the Environment Agency would managed the site and the Council had little influence on the project, as it was only a stakeholder.

The Biomass Power Station would generate much needed power for the area with the existing network capacity being insufficient. It would take our local waste, which in turn would help reduce transportation of the waste to the existing site.  Moving forward with the changes to electric vehicles and powering homes, further reducing its carbon footprint by utilisation of local facilities. 

Seeking clarification on points within the strategy a Member sought clarification on the diagram on page 31 where one stream appeared to be missing and on the wording within page 22 relating to the preparation of the 3 districts, asking if it was generic wording as clearly the three districts had individual needs.  The Climate Change and Environment Manager agreed that a stream was missing and that the wording used was generic. 

The Member further voiced concern at the practicality of converting all properties to take air pump heating but was reassured that hybred systems would be available for use with conventional tanks alongside the electric boilers.

Stating he felt the need for greater inclusion of children in taking climate change forward, a Member stated that it would be they, who would create the technology required. It was vital that they understood the current challenges to allow them to produce the technology required.  Members agreed the need for the inclusion of all children from early years in the education of recycling and climate change. Furthermore, Members’ acknowledged the importance of their own roles in both warning and encouraging the public and in recognising that the whole success of changes was dependant on technology not yet produced.

Whilst not wishing to diminish the report and stating he fully supported the concept, a Member voiced concern at the lack of any reference to hydropower and green industries within the draft strategy with the borough having both river and seawater running through it.  The town had three possible sites for turbines at the Black Sluice, the North Forty Foot and alongside the barrier to provide direct power.  Furthermore, the Member stated the biggest challenge Boston faced was that of rising sea levels.  Whatever level of green energies emerged and however much homes became green would all be irrelevant, if the Borough could not protect itself from the sea due to rising tides.  All the efforts made to combat climate change would be pointless.  A further Member agreed the comments stating the river and the sea had the potential to be an eastern powerhouse of green electricity, however they voiced concern at the proposal of wind-pumps. Noting the concerns on flooding, a Member asked how the increase in droughts each year could be overcome, referencing farmers who already took water from dykes. The Member suggested encouragement of additional water catchment areas in the borough.  

The Assistant Direction – Regulatory advised that Lincolnshire County Council who were a key stakeholder in the network, had recently launched their own strategy.  They would work alongside the districts, flood risk was within their strategy, but mitigation and adaption of flood risk was an area requiring further address to include adaptation of homes in flood risk areas to be liveable. 

The Portfolio Holder agreed that water is a resource and treated as such with the possibility of the development a large reservoir in the south of the county with water taken from the river Witham.

Members discussed the prioritisation within the strategy of the change to electric vehicles and the charging of them.  They noted that Lincolnshire County Council would be part of the solution in addressing the issue.  Concern noted the need for fast charging points and the shortage of electricity in the area resulting in the grid restricting the locations to site them.  Additional concern noted the issue of homes with no off-street parking charging their vehicles.  Certain areas were looking at running cables to the vehicles and others at burying cables within the footpaths. 

Voicing concern at the ongoing production of coal and its shipment around the world by nations including Australia, India and China and America, a Member stated that he applauded the intent of the strategy, and that of the people intent on addressing the issues.  However, he stressed that the outcome of any change to stop climate change lay elsewhere with the final responsibility for the significant impact required, relying on those counties who continued to build fossil-fuelled power stations and those countries who continued to mine and transport the fuels.  Despite the best efforts of the rest of the world, those Countries would dictate the outcome.

Referencing previous comments in respect of rising sea levels the Member further voiced strong concern at rate of the ice cap melting in Greenland, which would cause a catastrophe should it break off.   He stated that there appeared to be no plan for such an event occurring which for Boston had to be a priority, due to its proximity to the sea.  Despite previous warnings of the loss of land locally, to the sea, Boston now stood in a very dangerous position due to those in power ignoring the warning.  Noting the graph within the report, the Member said that although Boston had a budget of 3 mega-tonnes of gases that would exhaust in 9 years, it could stay within its carbon budget be reducing emissions by 8.2%.  However, the Member felt the levels needed to fall more as current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere were at their highest in 800,000 years.

Referencing the loss of the National Bus service between London and Mablethorpe and the reduction in local bus service timetables due to a shortage of drivers, a Member questioned the need for liaison with the bus companies.  The operators needed to come forward with their plans, in respect with climate change and the declining numbers of drivers causing the loss of service.

The Portfolio Holder agreed the concerns and advised committee that Boston had been identified as an ideal place to run a pilot scheme for electric buses, which would reduce the current level of fumes in both Narrow Bargate and on the Town Bridge significantly.  The issue of drivers re-locating to other areas of employment was driven by market forces and was nationwide. Vehicle technology was evolving and would change significantly over time.

The Assistant Director – Regulatory advised committee of 2 surveys recently published by Lincolnshire County Council into which Members could have input.

The first was the Lincolnshire Transport Plan and provided an overarching strategy of transport in the county. 

The second being the Bus Service Improvement Plan looking at public transport across the county including routes / infrastructure / bus depots and fares and ticketing and was the platform for Members to comment and suggest on.  All Members has the opportunity to influence both documents via their respective surveys.

The final subject under discussion referenced social housing landlords, both private and public sector, being compliant to energy ratings.  Members noted that the standard of a significant number of social housing in Boston was not what is should be resulting in tenants living in fuel poverty in decaying and unfit properties.

The Climate Change and Environment Manager advised that such properties were currently required to conform to E rating to secure their certificate.  Nationally there was a push to increase that level to a C rating in an attempt to raise the standard of rental properties.  However, there were issues in respect of enforcement of such a change.  East Lindsey District Council had been successful in securing funding in 2020 that enabled a pilot to be undertaken allowing enforcement of the regulations and ensuring that the landlords were complaint. Their outcome had provided much needed information moving forward. Housing Standards at Boston had applied for funding but not been successful and Officers were still looking at options, but South Holland District Council had been successful in securing similar funding to allow similar activity. As such, the alliance had two out of three authorities already taking action. Officers were aware of the situation at Boston and would attend the Landlords at their forum in December in an attempt to engage further with them.

Members suggested inviting landlords to a meeting to report on how they plan to make existing properties compliant with climate change activity.

In conclusion, the Chairman thanked the Officer for such a comprehensive report and for her enabling the Chairman to attend the Carbon Trust meeting where Boston Borough evidenced how active it had been to date in reducing its carbon footprint. Committee had deliberated the report in detail, in general agreeing the collaborative approach undertaken with partners and stakeholders as the best way forward. They further recognised the importance of the inclusion of children throughout the process and the children’s role in years to come.  Members also understood their role in encouraging and supporting efforts to reduce emissions and fully acknowledged the dependency of everyone, on the as-yet un-developed technology, which needed to be produced to address the overall issues. 

RECOMMENDED:

That the Environment and Performance Committee support the Cabinet’s agreement to commence consultation of the draft Strategy.

To Do: 

KR:  To issue and invitation to the landlords forum to seek their attendance to report on how they plan to adapt existing properties to comply with climate change