Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a Chair for the 2022/23 Municipal Year.

Chris Johnson nominated Andy Croy to be elected Chair for the remainder of the 2022/23 municipal year. This was seconded by Rachelle Shepherd-DuBey.

RESOLVED That Andy Croy be elected Chair for the remainder of the 2022/23 municipal year.

To appoint a Vice-Chair for the 2022/23 Municipal Year.

Alistair Neal nominated Chris Johnson to be appointed Vice-Chair for the remainder of the 2022/23 municipal year. This was seconded by Rachelle Shepherd-DuBey.

RESOLVED That Chris Johnson be appointed Vice-Chair for the remainder of the 2022/23 municipal year.

To receive any apologies for absence.

An Apology for absence was submitted from David Cornish. Alistair Neal attended the meeting as a substitute.

Gregor Murray attended the meeting virtually, meaning that he could participate in discussions but not vote.

To receive any declarations of interest.

Andy Croy declared a personal interest on the grounds that he was on the Board of the Barkham Solar Farm project.

To answer any public questions. A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice. The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this Committee.

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting. For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to:  www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

There were no public questions.

To answer any Member questions.

There were no Member questions.

To confirm the Committee’s Terms of Reference as agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee.

The Committee considered their Terms of Reference, set out in agenda pages 5 to 10, as agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee.

RESOLVED That the Terms of Reference be noted.

To consider a Position Paper on progress relating to the Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan – the paper will assist the Committee in developing its work programme.

The Committee considered the climate emergency position paper, set out in agenda pages 11 to 14, which outlined the progress made in relation to the Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan (CEAP).

The report outlined a number areas where positive action had been taken, including an increased rate of recycling across the Borough, multiple Council-owned assets undergoing energy efficient retrofitting, and over 15,000 trees having been planted. Upcoming areas of focus included costing of delivery of component elements of the CEAP, sustainable procurement considerations, and supporting individual Council teams to deliver upon the CEAP. A number of challenges were present, including financial pressures relating to the cost-of-living crisis, the cost of delivering the CEAP without a dedicated climate emergency budget, and the lack of Central Government support through grants or statutory powers for Local Authorities.

Sarah Kerr (Executive Member for Climate Emergency and Resident Services), Rhian Hayes (Assistant Director Economic Development and Growth), Andrew Collins (Climate Emergency Officer), and Sabrina Chiaretti (Climate Emergency Project Officer) attended the meeting to answer Member queries.

During the ensuing discussion, Members raised the following points and queries:

·         Of the planned 190 electric vehicle charging points due to be installed, would these be fast or slow chargers? Executive Member response – A mix of infrastructure would be used, suited to the location where they were to be installed;

·         What additional powers, devolved from Central Government, would help the Borough achieve carbon neutrality? Officer response – For significant change to occur, Central Government would need to empower local Authorities to implement additional climate emergency policies with associated funding and grants;

·         What were the timescales for costing the delivery of component elements of the CEAP? Officer response – The work programme report was started each April, with the final version ready in the summer. Best estimate costings would hope to be presented in the summer of 2023;

·         Were there any additional actions that could be taken over the next few months that would have a significant impact on reaching net zero emissions? Officer response – The key issue with delivering the CEAP was that it needed to be done via building partnerships. Encouraging people, either residents or businesses, as partners to make positive changes in their lives was one of the most cost effective ways to see real change in the Borough;

·         Would new house and office builds within the Borough require higher environmental standards? Executive Member response – Building regulations were mainly responsible for the standards that developments were built to, and the update to standards in June 2022 were a step up to get people ready for full implementation in 2025. Even these standards would not require a passive design, though they would reduce emissions. Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) could encourage developers to exceed standards, but we could not mandate them to do so. An Individual Executive Member Decision paper approved an interim Climate Change Interim Policy Position Statement in December 2022, which would form part of the material decision making process when considering planning applications.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To agree the date for the Committee’s next meeting and to confirm the proposed dates for 2023/24.

RESOLVED That the next meeting of the Committee be held on 14 March 2023 at 7pm.