Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency shared the following items:

-       work continues to embed strong climate policy in the Strategic and Local Plan, alongside progress on town centre heat network, following the acceptance of £100k from the Department of Energy, Sustainability and Net Zero to fund the next stage of developments.  He is hoping to coordinate delivery of that with geothermal companies, although they remain private at present;

-       we are introducing the DATE (Donut Advisory Tool for Events) sustainability tour, for all events on council land.  This free-to-use, simple tool kit helps local authorities to assess an event’s community, accessibility, and environmental sustainability impacts, and we are planning to extend it to market operators;

-       with other local authorities, he has co-signed a national call for a government rethink of the inclusion of a proposed limit on local energy efficiency standards for planning in the next National Planning Policy Framework.  This would prevent local authorities from having higher energy efficiency standards;

-       the Transitional Regional Energy Strategic Plan has been published, providing an early insight into future grid capacity needs in the southwest.  This ties in with the heat network and geothermal work – if this can be used to produce heating, it will reduce the demand on the grid;

-       an independent decarbonisation survey has started at the leisure centre; the results will be shared soon;

-       local engagement work has continued with a Net Zero conference at the MX, and an outdoor heat pump demonstration at Lidl car park;

-       £14k has been secured from Climate Leadership Gloucestershire for a local accreditation scheme to help SMEs reduce their carbon emissions;

-       housing retrofit continues - 115 properties have been upgraded to EPC C-rating or above, with positive tenant feedback, and assessments have begun on the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund Wave 3 to install with heat pumps;

-       early work has begun on a CBC-wide e-learning module, possibly including an internal carbon dashboard, to provide everyone with a good idea about what the climate emergency means and what we’re doing about it. 

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Culture, Wellbeing and Public Realm began by reflecting on his new appreciation of Cheltenham’s wonderful parks and independent coffee shops, and shared the following updates:

-       he met with Cheltenham Festivals last week and the Cheltenham Trust this week to discuss some exciting developments, their plans for the future, and how we can work better together for the town and its future;

-       the community-run Tourist Information Centre, formerly operating out of Cavendish House, has a new home in the Town Hall – good news for residents and visitors;

-       he has had a good meeting with Fran Inman of the BID to discuss upcoming projects in the town centre, and work being done to support local businesses and the local economy.  Many residents raise concerns about shop vacancies, particularly where there are a few side by side  – although this is a nationwide problem and due to many issues including high rents and rates, Cheltenham is not faring too badly, and residents can be reassured that there are new businesses lined up to take on most of the empty premises in the town centre;

-       tomorrow he is going on a tour of the Everyman Education Centre in Grove Street – an update will be provided at the next meeting – and attending the Cheltenham Arts Council awards. 

The Cabinet Member for Waste, Recycling, Parks, Gardens and Green Open Space said that unlike some Cabinet colleagues, his portfolio gives him great opportunities to get out and meet people.  He highlighted the following:

-       with budget provision and a brilliant new allotments officer, the waiting list of 800 has been reduced to 500, through a combination of creating new plots and making sure that any unwanted plots are re-released quickly.  Having visited the Midwinter allotments today, he was struck as always by the friendliness of everyone and the sociability that allotments bring;

-       the ongoing situation with the long-established badger sett at the crematorium is difficult and sensitive, with previous attempts to relocate them to a new sett both disruptive and expensive with no guarantees of success.  We are now working with the Gloucestershire Badger Group and ecologist, looking to repair the worst area of damage and installing a sunken fence which will control some of the badgers’ movement but allow them to stay where they are.  Together with clear signage, it is hoped that this may well be a way to resolve the situation;

-       we are ready to start recycling tetra packs across the town from 01 April, and gearing up to roll out collection of flexible plastics ward by ward, starting in June. 

The Leader said the Strategic and Local Plan Partnership is due to go out to Regulation 18 consultation soon, which is exciting but scary.  Without a local development plan, councils cannot stop developers from building where they want, and although housebuilding is a top priority for this council, local areas must be able to decide where to build, how much is sustainable, and the quality and design of the homes that are built.  CBC was very close to meeting its five-year housing supply but increased government numbers have set this back and we are being told we need to build more.

She had also welcomed the opportunity to meet with the Chair of the Cheltenham Trust and re-set that partnership.  The Trust does so much for the town and this needs to be highlighted.