The Housing Development, Programme Office and Policy Manager advised that she had developed a draft Delivery Plan which was tabled at the meeting.  The Plan included three separate sections and indicated the actions the Council would need to take to become a carbon neutral organisation, and the actions the Council would need to take, in partnership with others to become a carbon neutral district, as follows:

Section 1: Clean Growth – to include construction, procurement, economic regeneration and energy generation.

Section 2: Healthy Places – to include the Council’s leadership role in the community, travel and transport, biodiversity and fuel poverty.

Section 3: Sustainable Services – to include the Council’s decisions, estate, travel and transport and workforce.

Members considered the contents of the plan and summarised key points discussed earlier.  In addition to the actions already highlighted within the Delivery Plan, the following suggestions were recommended to be added:

·        Create a dedicated officer post to develop, co-ordinate and oversee climate change projects and actions required.

SECTION 1: CLEAN GROWTH

Construction

·        Upgrade the Town Hall and utilise and lease out for income generation and / or possibly relocate to a new sustainable premises. 

·        Create plastic free towns.

·        Pedestrianise / socialise new developments and, in particular town centres.

·        Implement policy change on all future developments to deliver Passivhaus standards.

·        Encourage developers to include electric charging points in new developments.

·        Develop Council sustainability projects to include all energy efficient measures.

Procurement

·        Review the procurement strategy with East Sussex County Council and report to Members in the future.

Energy Generation

·        Explore options of investment in off-shore wind turbine systems.

·        Explore options of solar district heating systems.

·        Encourage Parish and Town Councils to become energy efficient.

SECTION 2: HEALTHY PLACES

Our Leadership Role in the Community

·        Increase shared services across local authorities.

·        Improve waste recycling rates.

·        Promote waste reduction, implement plans to recycle clothing.

·        Move to three weekly recycling bin collections.

·        Explore the option of introducing communal bins in residential areas.

Our Travel and Transport

·        Establish a park-and-ride scheme for Battle, Bexhill and Rye.

·        Support local community transport initiatives to use electric vehicles.

·        Review contracts and encourage all Council contractors to use electric vehicles e.g. waste collection, parks and public convenience cleaning.

Biodiversity

·        Explore disposal options for green cuttings.

·        Encourage beekeeping across the district.

·        Introduce natural or green burials in the district’s cemeteries.

·        Utilise green or living walls, sustainable and long lasting.

SECTION 3: SUSTAINABLE SERVICES

Our Decisions

·        Implement policy change – all licensed taxis to be electric vehicles.

·        Install a count-down clock at the Town Hall until the target date of 2030.

·        Implement a £10 voluntary levy on Council Tax contributions.

·        Include an environmental assessment on all reports.

Our Estate

·        Encourage plant-based Mondays (meat free) one day per week at the Council offices.

·        Introduce a plastic bottle tax and a deposit return scheme for drinks containers.

·        Introduce subsidised cycle-to-work scheme or subsidised bus pass scheme for local authority employees.

Our Workforce

·        Become a ‘Paperless’ Council for all meetings.

·        Introduce different ways of working e.g. a four-day week where employees attend over the course of four days rather than the customary five or encourage employees to work one day per week at home.

·        Officers introduce new communication strand on ‘MyAlerts’ called ‘green tip of the week’.

·        Generate additional funding by establishing a monthly Council ‘Environment Lottery’, proceeds to be spent on climate change projects across the district.

·        Establish an internal Rother Officer Group to complete an energy audit of the Town Hall and create ‘climate champions of the month’ awards.

Councillor Langlands enthusiastically advised that she was creating a website called “Bexhill Unwrapped”.  She had contacted the majority of local businesses in Bexhill to ask what steps they had undertaken to reduce their carbon footprint.  The results would be collated, uploaded to a website and shared with the Council.

Members were advised that all of the above suggestions would be incorporated into the Delivery Plan and presented to the Climate Change Steering Group at their next meeting. 

RESOLVED: That:

1)     it be recommended that a dedicated officer post be created to develop, co-ordinate and oversea climate change projects and actions required; and

2)     the above suggestions be considered and where practicable / feasible incorporated into the Council’s Delivery Plan and presented at the next meeting.