Agenda item

One Planet York Presentation - an initiative to make York a more sustainable, resilient and collaborative city - Paul McCabe, One Planet Strategic Manager

Paul McCabe, One Planet Strategic Manager, gave a presentation on One Planet York.  He introduced it as a growing network of organisations supporting a vision of a more sustainable, resilient and collaborative “One Planet” City, meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

One Planet York is based around ten principles:

·         Health and happiness

·         Equity and local economy

·         Culture and community

·         Land use and wildlife

·         Sustainable water

·         Local and sustainable food

·         Sustainable materials

·         Sustainable transport

·         Zero waste

·         Zero carbon

One Planet York offered this framework to the council.  CYC agreed to become a One Planet Council and got together with several local organisations to find out what people in the city were doing around the above themes.  These include YourCafe supporting sustainable food and the York Minster’s Eco Church Award promoting zero carbon.

Over 60 organisations are currently supporting One Planet York and the goal is for this to grow.

Paul McCabe stated that there are several ways for York residents to get involved:

·         Become a “One Planet” neighbourhood

·         Attendees were encouraged to collect a toolkit before leaving the meeting, or consult the One Planet York website for small practical actions they could do.

·         Ask your organisation to support the One Planet York vision.

·         Download the One Planet York app.

·         Come to OPY Monthly Mingles.

It was noted that the Chill In The Community Café have expressed interest and are waiting to hear back about this.

Paul McCabe asked residents to help promote the OPY app.  He stated that they are currently talking to an organisation looking to roll the app out nationally.

He stated that the Monthly Mingles generally have a particular theme (eg: the next one in September is about zero carbon) and there is food and drink.

He stated that York’s overall city performance is currently ranked at 48 out of 324 areas.  This is based on economic, social and environmental measures.  Cambridge and Oxford are currently at the top.

A resident stated that he is disappointed that new houses are not being built to eco standards, eg: the new houses at Hob Moor do not have solar panels.  Paul McCabe replied that the Code for Sustainable Homes was dropped, like many regulations, at the national level and that developers now work to what the market will stand.  He stated that York has the world’s first passive house plus, built by local architects.  This is carbon neutral and puts energy back into the local system.  Cllr Waller stated that Public Service Excellence have not abolished the Merton Rule.

A resident suggested that pressure could be put on local councillors to raise standards.

A resident stated that the living environment of parts of York, eg: Holgate, is in the bottom 20% nationally and suggested that One Planet York could do more about raising awareness, particularly about pollution levels.  Paul McCabe stated that York has the second best air monitoring service in the UK and they are working on an urban living project that puts data on an urban platform.  Another resident stated that Friends of the Earth will provide a free air monitoring pack upon request.

A resident asked if all big housing projects go through One Planet York.  Paul McCabe stated that One Planet Council had developed a Better Decision Making Tool and that when any major development projects come forward, they would need to be assessed against this.  Officers have to go through a self-assessment template and will be asked to consider the longer-term impact.  Cllr Waller suggested that there was a lot of information on this in a report from August 2016 which could be found on the council website.

Cllr Waller reminded attendees that the Acomb Community Cinema runs on the 2^nd Saturday of each month at 19:00, although it is not able to disclose in advance what it will be showing.