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 Update
The Environment and Public Space Portfolio Holder (Councillor Talbot) made the following statement:-
“Herewith my report to all Fellow Councillors on the latest business with TDC’s Climate Change Agenda, where it may appear we have lots of words and not much action, but things are slowly moving forward.
With every Authority in the country seeking the services of a contractor to supply their requirements, this obviously puts contractors in the driving seat to some extent, but our officers are working to achieve the best packages for Tendring.
Totally within our direct control are our intentions to fit Solar Panels and necessary battery storage to our Council Houses and Public Buildings, and next Tuesday Lee Heley and Tim R. Clarke are meeting the consultant for a scheduled 1.5-hour session to discuss opportunities for solar energy derived from panels on the rooves of our council homes and the viability of more commercially focused schemes.
The Green Homes Grant scheme phase 2 delivered by the South Essex Energy Hub seeks to save energy wasted through current inefficient home insulation. Currently we have the highest referral rate of interested residents in Essex. 40 surveys have been completed, and in round 3 of the scheme, Tendring has £1.8m to be spent on properties in that round. The Council has also bid for £17,000 of that to support capacity, including promoting the take up of the scheme locally.
Energy audits of our buildings are complete, and the Council will be developing proposals for energy improvements to boilers, temperature controls, better monitoring of data and other ways to reduce heat loss. Lee gave me as an example, the fitting of swimming pool covers in our leisure centres.
One of the most obvious signs for us as Members, will be the first electric charging point to be installed in the Town Hall car park in April. Officers are also reviewing options for Electronic Vehicle (EV) charging in the car parks that are best placed to support the needs of electric vehicle owners, such as destination seaside / tourist car parks, or car parks located in areas where many households do not have off-road parking of their own. The feasibility of rapid chargers in our leisure centres is also being considered. All this requires a great deal of research to establish that power is available for such chargers, particularly the high power for rapid chargers, which could mean considerable infrastructure work for the power companies before we can make those decisions.
The Government have just announced a new local electric vehicle infrastructure (LEVI) pilot funding, and officers will examine the detail of this to see what benefit TDC may derive from this ‘pilot funding.’ We are currently bidding for a Government grant specifically to support EV infrastructure in the new Starlings car park / open space project in Dovercourt.
I have attended two
national ‘Zoom’ conferences on Climate Change. One by
the Public Sector Executive and the other by the Local Government
Association, where a new name for me was the ‘Global Covenant
of Mayors’ whose speaker joined us from Brussels. I expect to
hear more from this organisation in future. At both I asked
questions which were answered, concerning my objection to much of
the talk being ‘Urban’ based and little thought of
Rural areas, such as we have in Tendring. There was much talk of
virtually ceasing personal motor vehicle use in favour of walking,
cycling and bus travel, knowing that Transport is responsible for
just under 30% of the country’s noxious emissions, but when I
said all this is OK for an urban population, but what about the
rural population - are they expected to stay at home where no bus
route exists? I was told they should car share!
Not the most helpful answer, I must say.
I note we have a planning application from Bluefield Renewable Developments Ltd expressing the wish to provide an update about their planning application for a solar farm on land to the north of Hartley Wood, Row Heath, Clacton-on-Sea. I would suggest if others have received this invitation, that it be politely rejected, leaving the matter to Councillor John White and our planning department.
One local organisation,
our own TDALC representing Tendring’s 27 Towns and Parishes,
debated at their last meeting the continuation of remote Zoom
meetings or a return to Face-to-Face meetings. The Members present
unanimously decided to continue with Zoom meetings, with the
additional benefit that Members not using their cars to attend
meetings, would have a small contribution to reducing our Carbon
emissions.
The phase “'Great Oaks from little acorns grow', comes to mind!
Thank you colleagues.”