Meeting documents

Councillor Irwin

Cabinet Member for Environment

To consider the attached report.

Contact Officer:  Jeff Membery (01296) 585316

(a)          Decision(s)

(1)          That the work that the Council had and was undertaking on environmental issues as summarised in the Cabinet report, be noted.

(2)          That work on future environmental actions should continue until vesting day for the new unitary authority and should focus on:-

·         Providing environmental leadership.

·         Supporting local initiatives.

·         Working in partnership.

(3)          That Council be recommended to make available up to £60,000 to facilitate the continuance of AVDC’s environmental initiatives programme.

(b)          Reason(s) for Decision(s)

Cabinet feels that as global climate challenges continue to increase, it is imperative that locally the Council maintains the momentum of the environmental improvements AVDC has delivered.

(c)          Alternative Options Considered

There are a number of options that the Council could pursue and these ill be determined in the light of the budget available.

(d)          Relevant Scrutiny Committee

Environment and Living.  However as this matter will be discussed by full Council, it is not subject to call-in.

(e)          Conflicts of Interest / Dispensation(s)

None.

Cabinet received a report highlighting the work undertaken by AVDC to improve the environment of the Vale and seeking resources to enable this work to continue up to the coming into existence of the new unitary authority.  The report, which included a list of the initiatives taken by the Council to reduce CO2 emissions and protect and enhance the local environment, could be viewed on the Council’s website.

The report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in October, 2018, had highlighted the fact that the world had 12 years during which to make a positive change in the way the environment was managed, before irreparable damage was done to the planet.  In June, 2019, Central Government had responded to the report by announcing that the UK would cut emissions to net zero by 2050.  A number of local councils had declared a "climate emergency" and had pledged to significantly reduce their carbon emissions or become carbon neutral by 2050 or earlier.

Whilst these declarations had been well received, there had been criticism in some quarters that these councils had not put in place an action plan to achieve their aims.  With the new Buckinghamshire Council replacing the existing councils in April, 2020, it was important for any AVDC initiatives to be deliverable in months rather than years.  AVDC already had a strong track record in addressing environmental concerns and had worked with businesses and other stakeholders to reduce carbon emissions across the Vale.  This work had been successful in reducing significantly overall carbon emissions and per capita emissions across the Vale since 2005.  This represented a 27% reduction in CO2 across the Vale overall and a 38% reduction in the per capita figure.  In essence AVDC had built environmental considerations into every aspect of its work.  The report highlighted a number of case studies to illustrate this.

Currently, considerable officer and Member time was being taken up with delivering the new unitary council and this might result in a pause in in the environmental programme until after the new council was in place.  Cabinet felt however that the size of the environmental challenge facing the country as a whole was such that it was important for AVDC locally to drive forward change across the Vale and also support residents in maintaining/creating the best possible environment in which to live.  It was therefore proposed to establish a budget of £60,000 to fund the administrative, capital and other resource costs of producing an options report and then delivering the next phases.

The suggested budget would fund the production of a full options and appraisal paper, but it was felt that the focus of future actions should be on projects that deliver in the relatively short term.  Already, there were a number of possibilities which had been considered and would be referred to at the next Council meeting.

RESOLVED –

(1)          That the work already being undertaken on environmental issues be noted.

(2)          That the focus for future environmental actions should continue until vesting day (for the new council), focussing on:-

·         Providing environmental leadership.

·         Supporting local initiatives.

·         Partnership working.

(3)          That Council be recommended to allocate a budget of up to £60,000 to facilitate the continuation of AVDC’s environmental initiatives programme.