Agenda item

Discussion paper of the Climate Change Working Group

Councillor Wheeldon introduced the paper as Chairman of the Climate Change Member Working Group and talked through some specific highlights;

·        The council’s carbon emissions reduction target of 30% by 2015 and had already achieved a 10%.

·        Since the Government had slashed feed-in-tariffs, installation of solar panels was no longer feasible.  A motion to Council in June recommending the purchase of zero carbon electricity from a green energy provider be a major consideration when choosing the new supplier had achieved unanimous support and this would now be critical in order that the target reduction could be achieved. 

·        The working group had taken a strong position on the replacement of the Mayors car and asked Officers to consider a whole range of options from a standard car, electric car and a hybrid.  In addition they had asked Officers to ensure that a comparison of fuel costs over the period of the lease be made against the cost of running an electric car and that the comparison not be limited to capital cost only.  Linked to this was, public charging points for electric cars, Cheltenham had none and the group felt that the council should take a lead on this. 

·        The working group would be receiving an impact assessment report of climate change on the operations of the council in view of the most recent winter weather and the 2007 floods suffered by the town.

·        A number of other small scale projects were ongoing which would also contribute to the reduction target.

Councillor Wheeldon gave thanks to the Climate Change & Sustainability Officer and Building Services Manager for their hard work and support.

The Chair addressed the committee as the newest Member of the working group and described how impressed she had been by the work being done by the group.  She also felt that the smaller steps being taken towards reducing emissions were just as important as the larger scale projects. 

Councillor Garnham asked that the matter of the Mayors car be given due consideration and that it not be forsaken on principle, but rather, a sensible decision be reached.  From personal experience he knew the benefits and value of having the car.

The Chair advised Members that Cheltenham was formally designated as an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) on the 18^th November, too late for inclusion in the paper circulated in advance of the meeting.  As a result of the AQMA the authority was required to carry out further assessment of existing and likely future air quality within 12 months and produce an Action Plan.  Members were invited to form part of a steering group being established by the relevant Officer, though the Chair felt that the invitation should be extended to all Members.

Relevant information and clear details as to what the Steering Group were being asked to do would be circulated to all Members. 

The Cabinet Member Sustainability felt that with the reduction in feed-in tariffs, the focus would now be on energy reduction.  The current reduction of 10.3% was fantastic, but there were other projects for which he hoped there would be funding available and included the installation of energy saving lighting at the Town Hall and Pittville Pump Rooms.  There was also the server room at the Municipal Offices to consider, there was an enormous amount of heat generated and gains could be made by using this heat elsewhere or cooling it more efficiently.