Issue - items at meetings - One Planet Living - Sustainability Action Plan

Report of the Strategic Director; Place (copy attached).

(1)       That the Sustainability Action Plan (as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report), be approved; and

(2)       That the Chief Executive be instructed:

(i)                 to implement the council actions in the Sustainability Plan;

(ii)               to submit the Plan to BioRegional with a view to endorsement for Brighton & Hove as a “One Planet City”;

(iii)             to submit the Plan to Brighton & Hove Strategic Partnership, for their approval; and

(iv)             after 18 months, to submit a report of plan implementation progress to BioRegional for independent review.

164.1          The Strategic Director; Place introduced the report which outlined a serried of actions proposed to meet the Corporate Plan objective to create a more sustainable city and achieve accreditation as a One Planet City.  The action plans had been formulated with a number of stakeholders by engaging in a collaborative exercise and the report would also be submitted to the Local Strategic Partnership.

164.2          The Chair stated that this had been a huge piece of work and he wished to thank all those involved in the process.  He hoped that the ten principles identified would be fully supported across the council and partners and that Brighton & Hove became the first One Planet City.

164.3          Councillor West stated that it was an important piece of work and that there was a need to look at the efficient use of resources and the impact of climate change and to embed sustainability as an issue in everyone’s minds.  The approach set out in the report outlined a clear way of to implement change and he hoped it would be taken forward.

164.4          Councillor Mitchell stated that it was an excellent report and wished to congratulate the officers involved.  She welcomed the initiatives that were outlined and looked forward to progress being made.

164.5          Councillor Wakefield welcomed the report and noted that a resident had contacted her to say how her fuel bill had dropped since the council had installed cladding to her tenant block and suggested that it would be helpful to obtain similar information from families in terms of before and after improvements such improvements were undertaken.

164.6          Councillor G. Theobald welcomed the report and queried the level of spending on energy savings listed on page 209, what the position was in terms of the government’s ‘Green Deal’ referred to on page 297, what was meant by rationalisation of school transport on page 309 and which parts of the city would be traffic free as mentioned on page 313.

164.7          The Chair stated that with regard to the ‘Green Deal’ this had been the subject of a report to the committee previously and officers were in discussion with the neighbouring authorities of East and West Sussex; as well as Southampton and other areas.  The traffic free reference was in relation to the Old Town Scheme and the energy savings were in regard to looking at the use and affect of council owned buildings.

164.8          Councillor West stated that the greenhouse gas emissions had been reduced by 3% and funding had been secured as part of the Green Deal from the government for improvements to homes.

164.9          Councillor Shanks stated that a review of how young people travelled to school was being undertaken to see if changes could be made to travel arrangements and use of modes of transport.  It was hoped to encourage young people to identify with the aspirations of one planet living.

164.10      Councillor Littman stated that he wished to thank everyone concerned with the report and noted that there were environmental challenges to be faced and that the council and residents had take responsibility for their actions and look to improve the quality of life for the city and to provide a better future.

164.11      Councillor Morgan welcomed the report and noted the information provided by Councillor Wakefield and queried why the proposed cladding for North Whitehawk flats had appeared to have been delayed.

164.12      The Head of Housing stated that there had been a delay in the works but confirmed that they were due to go ahead and stated that he would provide a written update for Councillor Morgan.

164.13      The Chair noted the comments and put the recommendations to the vote.

164.14      RESOLVED:

(1)    That the Sustainability Action Plan (as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report), be approved; and

(2)    That the Chief Executive be instructed:

(i)           to implement the council actions in the Sustainability Plan;

(ii)         to submit the Plan to BioRegional with a view to endorsement for Brighton & Hove as a “One Planet City”;

(iii)       to submit the Plan to Brighton & Hove Strategic Partnership, for their approval; and

(iv)       after 18 months, to submit a report of plan implementation progress to BioRegional for independent review.