Agenda item

This reports provides the second annual update of the Carbon Neutrality Action Plan (CNAP) since its adoption in 2020. The date has been brought forward in order for it to be aligned with the budget setting period. The outcomes of the work to date are set out in the revised CNAP and the spreadsheet with updates on individual actions. 

It is recommended that the O&S notes:

·         The progress made on the CNAP during 2022 attached in Annexe 1

·         The GHG report attached in Annexe 2 and agree that it is published on the Waverley Borough Council website

·         The updated content of version 3 of the CNAP as presented in Annexe 3

And provides feedback to the Executive

Fotini Vickers attended for this item and advised this was the second update on the Carbon Neutrality Plan.

Cllr Sally Dickson raised concern around whether some of the short term actions needed further consideration. She felt moving to a green tariff may not be viable considering the current energy crisis. She also raised concern regarding the changing energy options for housing as it had already been evidenced that heat exchangers are costly.

The Committee discussed the action to go paperless and agreed that large agenda papers were difficult to read electronically and the tablets provided to members were too small to read agendas effectively.

Cllr Cockburn highlighted there was no effective plan to join it all together and that we already have things in our current policies that are not acted upon already e.g. inefficient planning permissions and builds so we cannot add more. CC1-CC4 should be complied with.

Action: Planning should be encouraged to complete a checklist – this had already been produced by Cllr D’Arcy two years ago as an example.

Cllr Foryszewski asked how T04 (Cycle Lanes) this would be implemented. What if we don’t own the land?

Fotini Vickers advised:

·         that a sustainability SPD had been produced to join up the planning policy. This will encourage developers. LPP1 will be reviewed and will give an opportunity to introduce new policies.

·         Leisure Centres were working closely with Waverley on improvements.

·         Contractors – they do like to stipulate expectations during procurement and are having discussions on variations to their contracts.

·         With regards to To4 the project is already underway with the projects officer and SCC to design in routes.

Cllr Seaborne highlighted a few errors/issues with the report. The forward should be dated September 2022 not 2023, the hyperlinks in footnotes on the Greenhouse gases were not appropriate if report is in paper form so full references should be included.

Cllr Seaborne also commented that the highest priority should be the improvements to the housing stock

Action: Asset Manager to address both O&S committees once in post.

The Committee discussed how to change the cultures.  It was acknowledged that it was not appropriate to tell people what to do but the council should lead by example.

Recommendation:

Services O&S notes:

·         The progress made on the CNAP during 2022 attached in Annexe 1

·         The GHG report attached in Annexe 2 and agree that it is published on the Waverley Borough Council website

·         The updated content of version 3 of the CNAP as presented in Annexe 3

Furthermore, the Committee recommends:

1)    That energy efficiency of council owned housing should be given higher priority as emissions from these properties represent the main emissions for which the Council has direct responsibility, and also noting the heightened risk of fuel poverty for financially challenged residents due to the inflation of energy prices.

2)     The addition of an action to make more extensive use of existing planning policies to promote climate change objectives. This should include a checklist for all applications to ensure they are complying with relevant climate change policies. This should be routinely reported to members of planning committees deciding applications.

3)     Review the short-term actions to ensure:

·         That the timescale to deliver them has not been affected by the Cost of Living crisis and higher than expected inflation.

·         The action identifies as precisely as practical what is to be delivered within the timescale outlined.

4) Though the inclusion of footnotes is commendable, a recognised referencing style should be followed rather than relying on hyperlinks, which do not work in paper documents.