Agenda item

B&NES Council - The new administration's priorities

Councillor Romero, Leader of the Council, who will provide an update which outlines the new council administration’s priorities, including addressing the climate emergency and giving people a greater say in decision-making.

Minutes:

Council Leader Dine Romero provided the forum with a presentation on the priorities that she and her cabinet are addressing. This presentation is included with the forum meeting notes and is available on the Cam Valley Forum webpage

 

Questions and discussion points

 

Cllr Dine Romero introduced the two members of her cabinet that were present at this meeting; Cllr Neil Butters (Transport) and Sarah Warren (Climate Emergency).

 

In March 2019 B&NES Council declared Climate Emergency at their full council meeting, the motion received cross party support as did the amendment that declared that B&NES Council were opposed to the expansion of Bristol Airport. It has been estimated that within the B&NES authority area there will be the need for 300,000 more trees to be planted.

 

The financial outlook for B&NES Council remains difficult; the latest budget figures indicate that in 2019-20, for every £1 of Council Tax being spent by the Council, 83.5p is spent on Adult Social Care and Children’s Services

 

Questions and Comments:

 

1.  What action has B&NES Council taken so far on Climate Emergency?

Response: SW explained that;

·  Targets have been set for the authority to be zero carbon by 2030.

·  Research has been commissioned by consultants that will show the biggest priorities; this should be able to demonstrate what achieving the targets looks like.

·  The picture already shows that the biggest wins should be higher levels of renewable energy and sustainable home energy.

·  The 10th October 2019 (6.30PM) Council meeting will be covering this in greater detail. This meeting will also be available by webcast.

·  Campaigns with our own staff around staff travel options.

·  Work with business on the elimination of plastics.

·  DR explained that the Councils building have solar panels fitted, work has taken place with the Abbey on heating solutions and we are continuing to lobby central government for changes on how we deal with issues around single glazed window replacement and restriction in planning regulations.

 

2.  How many electric charging points are there in the B&NES area? We need more points to make it more appealing to make the move to electric; there are no points yet in Freshford.

Response: SW explained:

·  This work stream is being led by Cllr Joanne Wright so this information can be provided after this meeting. Note: the public facing charging points in B&NES is around 36, a live website feed that shows the locations available -  https://www.zap-map.com/live/

·  NB explained that there are concerns raised by Western Power Distribution regarding there not being enough capacity to deliver rapid charge services if there were a high level of uptake.

·  In Clapham there have been adaptions made to lampposts that allow charge when parked up at the roadside.

·  It was pointed out that the majority of electric vehicle user will slow charge at their own home overnight.

·  From the fifty people in the room only two people owned electric cars and two people owned electric bikes.

 

3.  What can be done to cut down the delay in the changes that are needed to the National Housebuilders Policy?

Response: DR explained:

·  There are certain actions that we can take at a local level but there a others that do require changes by national agreements

It was suggested that there are developments taking place where no additional trees are planted and no solar panels are being included. Whilst developers still receive big pay bonuses.

Response: DR explained:

·  There are developers that are saying that they no longer can afford to provide the provisions that they should be delivering.

 

4.  What is being done to bring along the next generation with us? Young people want to have their own homes, even if this is on land freed up for self-build.

Response: DR explained:

·  Some interest has been shown in the past but not by younger people. If this is something that has interest we should be looking to see if anything can be done.

 

5.  The University pays no rent to the Council, but they can find £15k every year to pay for a meal that Councillors attend. Would this money not be better used for funding an extra Council Officer post? What do these Universities actually contribute and how do they actually do this?

Response: DR explained:

·  There is not a direct monetary contribution made as they are set up as a charity.

·  Work is taking place on addressing Climate Emergency and on the Clean Air Zone.

·  They are a useful partner for work on light pollution studies.

·  The new Vice Chancellor at The University of Bath is keen to see greater levels of involvement.

·  There have been times where it has not been easy in making the partnerships work but the discussions are now in a better place.

 

6.  How will people notice that they are going to have a greater say? – There has been serious objections made by the parish council to planning decisions and the process has been hidden. Where serious objections are being made there must be the method of dealing with the community concerns.

Response: DR explained:

·  It is normal that when an objection is received by a parish that the decision will go to committee.

·  Cllr Matt McCabe is looking into the issue raised and will be reviewing the TOR’s.

 

7.  The Global Climate Strike will be taking place on Friday, are Council staff permitted to attend?

Response: DR explained: It has been agreed that Council staff are allowed to attend this event.

 

8.  What is happening with improvements to public transport? We need better options if we are to get cars off the roads.

What goals do you have for items such as more cycle lanes?

It is still cheaper to drive than using the bus; fares need to be cheaper of free.

Response: DR explained:

·  WECA is responsible for public transport and this now sits under the responsibilities of the WECA Mayor. 

·  The WECA Bus Strategy is being produced and is due to be published within the next six months.

·  Once the strategy is ready it will be sent around to parish council for consultation.

·  The Clean Air Zone plans are being developed and we will be speaking to local people about the implementation. The CAZ was brought about by the challenge that was brought to the UK Government by Climate Earth to address air pollution.

·  NB added that WECA can’t subsidise bus services, First Bus struggle to make profit on certain local routes and therefore need more people using and supporting bus travel.

 

9.  How will you bring more people on board to help reach the 2030 carbon neutral target?

Response: SW explained:

·  There is a change in the public mood and there are organisations such as Extinction Rebellion that are carrying out wonderful work.

·  Following the research results coming back to us we will bring people in to take part in a Citizens Jury. This means experts will explain the issues, the jury consider and discuss and all points of views get considered.

 

 

 

 

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