Agenda item

The Council is asked to note any statements made by Members of the Cabinet (Portfolio Holders).

Councillors may then ask questions of the Portfolio Holders on their statements.

 

Minutes:

Action on Climate Change

 

The Environment & Public Space Portfolio Holder (Councillor Talbot) made the following statement:-

 

“Colleagues,

 

At our 26th January meeting I reported to Council the fact that Climate change was being included in my Portfolio and that the subject and the Council’s agreed aim to be ‘Net Zero Carbon” by 2030 in respect of those emissions from our business operations that we have control of, should be on everybody’s lips and part of the Council’s consideration of all future reports written and received by all departments of the Council. I further said I would be raising the whole issue with my Cabinet colleagues.

 

This I did on the 29th of January and received support from the Council Leader and fellow members, for my intention to keep the Climate Change issue and our Net Zero Carbon aim for TDC, referred to regularly on our reports when prepared, and to disseminate further to our Towns and Parishes, inviting them to do the same.

 

 In line with this intention, Senior Council Officers are being requested to ensure that all reports contain a section on the environmental impacts of the decision in light of the Council’s Policy of its operations becoming carbon neutral by 2030”.

 

After the support I received from our Cabinet members, you will have noticed a large Logo on the Home Page of your TDC computer equipment. This obviously as a reminder of our agreed policies and to keep the matter alive in Members’ minds.

 

Next, last Friday with the support of the Cabinet, I had a letter sent to all Town and Parish Councils in Tendring, inviting them to regularly consider any business they deal with in the light of our declared Net Zero Carbon Policy, by perhaps including an item on their Council’s Meeting Agenda, or by any other suitable means. I cannot say how pleased I was to discover beforehand, that some Councils in the District are already considering this on a regular basis, the very thing my letter was inviting them to undertake.

 

All the above is about communication, but we must begin to actually make some real changes.


We must now act on some of the matters dealt with by Alan Coley’s Working Party over the last few months.


We must examine with our planners and Councillor Turner’s Local Plan Committee, as to whether we can influence or encourage future development applications to include things like Solar Panels on roofs and provision of vehicle car charging points on new properties, where the cost of such changes must be so much cheaper that installing such items at a later date.

 

We must examine if our Parks and Open Spaces officers can use electric vehicles, either by purchase or by hiring them on contract and when we as a Council hire a bus, should we request an electric bus?


These are matters I shall seek Cabinet’s support to undertake.

 

There is a lot to be done and I will be treading on some people’s toes, but as the saying goes:

'You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs' and I fear we will be breaking eggs!