Question
The Council have announced a target of carbon zero by 2030 and plan to plant 250,000 trees in the five years to 2025. Yet actions speak louder than words. Rather than reducing electricity usage in property it owns or has influence over it is increasing usage, take the unopened section of the NWDR which has been illuminated every night for since last autumn. Amazingly some of the Xmas illuminations in Broad Street are still switched on each night whilst the existing Wokingham Library and new Carnival Pool are illuminated 24/7. It can’t be for security reasons as its unlikely the pool will be stolen.
Of new trees planted a high percentage have died due to lack of watering, on Dead Trees Roundabout even the replacements have been allowed to die. And there has been the deliberate mass destruction of trees at various sites.
You’ll agree that Wokingham is thus in a negative position with regard to trees; how many trees will now need to be planted by the target date to achieve a net 250,000 increase of trees that will reach their tenth birthday?
Minutes:
Question
The Council have announced a target of carbon zero by 2030 and plan to plant 250,000 trees in the five years to 2025. Yet actions speak louder than words. Rather than reducing electricity usage in property it owns or has influence over it is increasing usage, take the unopened section of the NWDR which has been illuminated every night for since last autumn. Amazingly some of the Xmas illuminations in Broad Street are still switched on each night whilst the existing Wokingham Library and new Carnival Pool are illuminated 24/7. It can’t be for security reasons as its unlikely the pool will be stolen.
Of new trees planted a high percentage have died due to lack of watering, on Dead Trees Roundabout even the replacements have been allowed to die. And there has been the deliberate mass destruction of trees at various sites.
You’ll agree that Wokingham is thus in a negative position with regard to trees; how many trees will now need to be planted by the target date to achieve a net 250,000 increase of trees that will reach their tenth birthday?
The climate emergency remains a key priority for the Council and for our residents, and we all must do our bit to reduce carbon emissions. As a Council, we want to take an active role as possible in tackling our properties and our carbon footprint, and we are continuing to look at ways to improve our properties and make them more energy efficient.
The Council has also a responsibility towards the safety and security of our residents and employees, and for this reason, some night illumination might be required. The library, for example, will be illuminated outside of opening hours whilst staff from other departments based in the building are working, whilst cleaning is being undertaken, and the emergency lighting is left on as per a legal requirement. Carnival pool is a construction site, and the power is managed by the contractor, the lights are left on for workers and for the security staff that remain there. The Council is committed to working with businesses to increase awareness of good energy efficiency practices, we can remind contractors and staff to switch off lights and be more climate conscious.
Regarding your comments about mature trees being removed, it is true that development will result in some of the mature trees being lost but we can compensate for this over the long-term through the provision of replacements. There are mature trees in urban areas now that were planted alongside new developments many generations ago. The Council is developing a tree policy that is viable and works within legislative and guidance boundaries, this is currently being consulted on alongside the Core Strategy.
The trees that are planted by developers are part of their planning obligations, and these are not being counted in the 250,000 tree planting project. The 250,000 tree-planting target is looking at delivering schemes outside of these requirements, for example, across the Council-owned sites including country parks and public open spaces, sites owned by our towns and parish councils and community groups, schools and private landowners who have the space appropriate for hedgerow and woodland creation. The Council is also developing a Tree Strategy for the Borough which will include guidance around developer responsibility in relation to felling and replanting trees. The policies within the developing Tree Strategy will be linked to the Core Strategy currently under consultation.
From October 2021 to the end of March 2022, over 15,000 trees have been planted by various community and volunteer groups, schools, town and parish councils, WBC Countryside Service and by private landowners. The Council will continue to actively engage with the community to support the delivery of this target.
Supplementary Question
I do not know if you want to answer the first question about why the lights are left on at the new road that is still not open for several months?
Apart from that you obviously do not seem to be monitoring how many trees have been cut down so how are you actually going to know if you are going to reach carbon zero if you have got no records of what is going on? Also, as you are only planting 15,000 trees you are well short of the annual target, which should be about 50,000 on average.
Supplementary Answer
I would need to speak to Pauline in a bit more detail about the north west distributor road.
My understanding, and I am sure Pauline will hopefully confirm this, is that that piece of the north west distributor road is actually still owned by the contractor that was building it and as per the same as your own house and your own back garden we do not have the right to ask you to turn your light off. If they want to leave it on overnight all we can do is ask them but they are under no obligation to do it. If they choose as a private contractor to have lights on a road that they own there is nothing that we can do as a Council other than ask them to turn them off.
In terms of the tree planting yes, some trees have been cut down and some trees have, unfortunately, been left to die by developers. I live on a development myself where that has happened. We as a Council are asking the developers to live up to their obligations. Many of them will overplant the number of trees they are required to put into the ground on the assumption that some will die before they complete on the site. I am sure that Wayne would be able to give you some more details around what his department are doing in order to make sure that more trees get planted by developers.
One thing I can also add is that I have seen the supplementary planning guidance that is being proposed as part of the Local Plan Update. I know that the Tree Strategy is being developed and will be included. Part of that includes some very, very high targets for tree planting but also ensuring that trees get to maturity will be part of our Local Plan Update.
Councillor Jorgensen gave the following answer:
Gregor gave a very comprehensive answer. The only thing to add is that the lights, not only are they currently in the control of the developer but they have not been certified yet so they could not be handed over to us yet in any case as the development is not yet finished.