Agenda item

Table Theme:  Energy

Experts:

Jane Wildblood

Alex McCann

Steve Cross

Notes

·  Freshford have set up a home energy group with some well qualified members.  They circulated a questionnaire in the village which resulted in 50 requests for home energy surveys.  They also organised a talk on heat pumps which was attended by around 40 people.  They will have another at the end of November on solar panels.  There is also interest from residents on a bulk buy cavity wall insulation scheme.

·  Bristol’s CHEESE project is looking to expand into Bath:  It was noted that they charge £200 for a home survey.

·  Widcombe’s group have a thermal imaging camera that they could potentially lend.  It would be good to have a register of who has equipment like this.  They also suggested that Share and Repair obtain three to go in their library of things and bid to the Bath & West Community Energy Fund to cover the cost:

·  It was suggested that Grow Batheaston are added to the mailing list for the Bathavon Area Forum if they are not already.

·  Chew Magna has a Climate and Nature Emergency Group which came out of Go Zero 15 years ago.  They provided leaflets to all residents on energy, food, travel, resources and nature on actions they could take.  They agreed it is helpful to do a survey to establish a baseline and then follow up a year later.

·  The Centre for Sustainability (CSE) has an Impact Tool which gives data by Ward/Parish on C02 emissions per household.

·  66% of emissions in Bath and North East Somerset come from buildings – the other third is transport.

·  It was suggested that finding retired builders to join groups to give advice is helpful.

·  There was discussion on WECA’s retrofit scheme

·  Claverton highlighted that they have just 45 dwellings so bulk buying is difficult.  One property has a ground source heat pump but it was very expensive.  There are three, large Listed buildings in the village and no scope for new build.  What advice can the Parish Council give to residents?  It was agreed there are constraints around Listed buildings but things that can be done (eg solar panels are possible but it needs careful design; secondary and slim glazing are also possible).  Thermal imaging can help identify where issues are.  Householders can be advised to contact the Conservation Team at B&NES – there is a pre-app system where feedback can be given.

Energy Efficiency, Retrofitting and Sustainable Construction SPD – B&NES

·  Peasedown St John was part of recent Centre for Sustainable Energy workshops on renewable energy sources and suitable sites.  They queried whether a field of a couple of acres might be suitable for solar panels, although there seems to be an issue with access to the grid.  It was suggested that a battery is installed so power can go to a house rather than the grid – it can also be used to heat water with a diverter.  WECA is looking at bringing back a group buying scheme for solar.  Bath & West Community Energy has a longer term aim of selling generated power to local housing.  South facing is best position and solar works better on roofs than in fields.  Advice is that roofs need to be 250sq metre minimum size. 

·  Beacon Hall, Peasedown St John – it was highlighted that it is just breeze block with high ceilings in the main hall, so not energy efficient.  The Bath & West Community Energy Fund offers grants up to £5k to enable surveys to be done and recommendations made.  Freshford Village Hall is triple glazed with good insulation – grants were obtained for this work – it could be used as a case study.

·  It was noted that Peasedown St John also has potential to have a wind turbine.

Table Theme:  Transport

Experts:

Jackie Head

Dr Alex Rowbotham

Notes:

·  Community Transport and Dial a Ride – Community Transport Schemes should also be used to resolve some of the transport needs across the district.  We need to raise the profile of CTs and bring them into the mainstream.  They need to be seen as part of the solution.

·  There is a lack of joined up thinking around transport - school transport is an issue.  Let us make travel work for people - particularly in the rural area.

·  Radstock can get to the main transport route for Bath but from the communities just outside such as Haydon and Clandown it is much more difficult as they are located on the top of the hill.  There are issues in Radstock with it being an informal ‘park and ride’.

·  Dynamic Demand Responsive Transport could be a way to utilise community transport schemes to resolve rural transport issues.

Details of WECA transport tenders

Appendix G shows the footfall on subsidised buses from 2019-22 and the revenue taken on these routes.

New routes

Appendix A for details of the services including the timescales (2025 for the Chew Valley) and delivery frequency 

Appendix B for precise timetables (showing main stops only)

Appendix  C Schedule E  for new routes maps

Dynamic Demand Responsive Transport

Appendix A DRT Specification C here for DDRT mapped areas, prices and detailed conditions.

Group 2

·  EV Charging points – are there issues with the national grid to install charging points across the district?  It will depend on the type of charging points installed and the range. 

·  We need to encourage more children to walk to school.  Chew Valley are looking at walking to school routes and installing charging units at drop off points.

·  How do you manage over usage of charging points?  Can you limit an individual’s use of a charging point?  Concerned that certain people will use the charging points all the time and leave their vehicles.  A suggestion was that electric cars are made available in a car share scheme and usage managed by booking system.  Concerned that people will travel into the village to use the charging points.

·  It would be helpful if there was guidance on options that might exist including process, grants, alternatives etc.

Group 3

·  EV Charging points – are there logistics with installation and would you be on the national app?  B&NES has identified parking spaces.  If you want to use the app then you have to use the approved installers.

·  It will be useful to have information on other areas that have installed EV charging points and a link to the Government approved installers.

·  Chew Stoke are investigating a Second Car borrowing scheme so that households who have second cars can hire them to others in the village. 

Government approved installers

Residential authorised installers

Commercial authorised installers

Table Theme:  Nature

Experts:

Stuart Gardner

Anthea Norman-Taylor

Richard Mann

Notes:

Stuart Gardner from B&NES spoke about South Gloucestershire Council’s collaboration with its Town and Parish Councils on Local Nature Action Plans (LNAP) in response to the Climate and Nature Emergency.

Guest speaker Daisy Finniear spoke about Frampton Cottrell’s approach to creating a Local Nature Action Plan using South Gloucestershire’s LNAP as a template (see link above) to create their own.  It was suggested that all parishes use this template to create their own LNAP.  Daisy then spoke about how the plan has enabled them to map progress and increase community engagement using volunteers and community events.  Many of the attendees agreed that the use of a template and framework was favourable.

It was noted that the timing wasn’t ideal to start rolling out plans with elections coming up in May 2023 and perhaps the scheme should be introduced in BANES after this.

Richard Mann from Nature Chain spoke about their current project encouraging communities in Limpley Stoke and Freshford to allow 20% of their garden to ‘grow wild’.  This encourages wildflowers to grow and insects/wildlife to roam freely and create ecosystems.  Nature Chain is looking to expand this project and encourage more communities to not only take part in small projects that can help the planet, but also learn about local nature and wildlife

Nature Chain also has a website with helpful, engaging and educational pages and project ideas.

There was a discussion on the possible stigma around allowing gardens to go wild and the need to teach communities about nature and the climate emergency to end this.

Stuart ended the discussion by highlighting B&NES’ ambition to produce Local Nature Action Plans.  They want to approach Parishes to get their opinions and ideas before going ahead.  It was noted that the LNAPs would be led by Parish Councils with a view to seeking opportunities to restore nature in their areas.

Table Theme:  Action Planning

Experts:

Micaela Basford

Alice Keogh

Notes:

Chew Valley films links:

Ground Source Heat Pumps

Solar Thermal Panels

Air Source Heat Pumps

PV Solar Panels

Toolkit feedback and Input

The following points were discussed and noted by the team to update the toolkit.

·  Both Claverton and Compton Dando agreed that it might be helpful for the really small parishes to have some specific guidance or even a meeting focused on small parishes. This could include advice on what can be achieved in designated Areas of Natural Beauty and Conservation Areas, where planning regulations are stricter.

·  Sharing examples and templates from other parishes eg: Chew Magna how to declare a climate emergency and Freshford how to declare an emergency and action plan

·  Not all parishes wish to, or see an advantage in, declaring a climate emergency.  Several different reasons for this.  What would it achieve?  Worried about what the commitment would mean and whether they’d be able to deliver as a parish council.

·  Would be good to promote the Parish Climate Toolkit after the May 2023 elections when there are likely to be new parish councillors.

Other discussion points:

·  Farmborough Futures, Green Action NES facebook group.  Farmborough are planning on inviting the village into the process/stages throughout the refurbishment/retrofit of their hall.  They hope to engage people then on things they can do in their own homes.

·  If an EV charge point was to be installed where would the future responsibility of maintenance lie?

·  Some parishes have made commitments and got some actions going but not reviewed it subsequently.  This could be a way to keep people motivated.  A good place to start is to record what is already happening across the main themes that relate to the climate and ecological crisis eg homes, gardening, recycling and repairing, food growing, community space, community events.

·  Are there ways that the Parish Council could raise awareness of support available across the different themes or are there things that the Parish Council could support groups and activities to highlight?  The activities don’t need to be parish council-led. See the circles diagram:

·  There was some discussion of the positives and benefits of engaging the community in parishes of different sizes.  Some larger parishes found it harder to pull people together when they were in ‘satellite groups’, whilst others saw this as a strength as there are different issues in different areas and these can be used to target different groups of people.

·  Radstock Town Council declared a climate emergency following public demand.  When they’ve held an event to create an action plan with the community, there was little or no participation from the community which was disappointing.

·  Priston have made great progress with tree planting with 220 trees planted in 2020 and work underway to plant more including weekend events and a local bridleway.

·  Some Parishes have climate and nature working groups.  These can be Parish Councillors or nominated residents.  They feedback on research and actions at Parish Council meetings.

·  The parish online website was cited as a useful resource which will soon be updated with EPC ratings which could be useful when exploring retrofit options.