Agenda and draft minutes

At this point in the meeting, members are asked to declare any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, any prejudicial interests or any disclosable pecuniary interests which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

Members were asked to declare, at this point in the meeting,

any personal interests, not included on the Register of Interests,

or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests that they

might have had in respect of business on the agenda.

Cllr Barnes highlighted his register of interest in relation to item 4 BioYorkshire. He noted that he worked for ORE (Offshore Renewable Energy) Catapult and that he worked on innovation technology which could cross over with BioYorkshire projects.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2023.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2022 be approved and signed as a accurate record by the Chair.

 At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the Committee.

Please note that our registration deadlines are set at 2 working days before the meeting, in order to facilitate the management of public participation at our meetings. The deadline for registering at this meeting is 5:00pm on Friday 24 February 2023.

To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill in an online registration form. If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting, please contact Democratic Services. Contact details can be found at the foot of this agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The meeting can be viewed live and on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we ran council meetings, including facilitating remote participation by public speakers. See our updates (www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy) for more information on meetings and decisions.

It was reported that there was two registration to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Debby Cobbett suggested that the York Climate Commissions membership was to narrow and highlighted the benefit that trade union representation could bring to the commission.

Geoff Beacon suggested that BioYorkshire should place greater focus on going beyond greening existing business practices of those organisations it works with. He encouraged work to be undertaken reviewing current regulations to ensure that they were not impeding green innovation.

This report provides the Committee with an update regarding the work of BioYorkshire.

The Committee were joined by Charlie Jeffery Vice Chancellor of the University of York who introduced the report on BioYorkshire. He introduced the work of BioYorkshire to the Committee and the way it aligned with the Council’s objectives in relation to economic growth and its climate ambitions.

Members enquired about the master plan being developed by BioYorkshire and timescales for the delivery of local jobs. It was confirmed that the program would aim to be delivered over 10 years. How the Council works with and supports BioYorkshire, Mr Jeffery noted that they worked closely with City of York and North Yorkshire County Council and were developing procedures on how to bring partners and investors together to develop new technologies.

Resolved:

                      i.         The update on BioYorkshire was noted.

Reason:     To keep the Committee updated on the work of BioYorkshire.

The report provides an update on progress towards York’s tree canopy expansion target. This work encompasses the delivery of York Community Woodland (YCW) and York Green Streets (YGS), a new project aiming to enhance tree planting in the city’s urban and peri urban areas from April 2023.

The Committee were updated on the progress towards York’s tree

canopy expansion target. Updates were provided on the work to delivery York Community Woodland (YCW) and York Green Streets (YGS) and it was noted the additional work that would be required from outside the Council to meet its targets.

The Council’s policy and strategies relating to tree planting were discussed. The uneven distribution of tree planting opportunities identified through Green Streets were noted, with an explanation of the challenges such as buried utilities and surface materials being provided as a reason for this. It was noted by officers that the initial Green Streets mapping exercise was not exhaustive but constrained by time and budget. The next phase of Green Streets will focus on delivery of the 4,000 identified planting opportunities; however, additional mapping exercises may be possible in the future if funding is available.

Resolved:

                   i.        To recommend that a scrutiny review be considered in the Council’s current Tree Policy.

Reason:    To review the Council’s current Tree Policy to ensure it is delivering to the aims of the Council’s York’s tree canopy expansion target.

This report provides the Committee with an update on the Council’s adaptations to become more climate resilient.

Strengthening York's Resilience to Climate Change was noted as a key aspect of the Council’s Climate Change Strategy. Officers outlined the adaptations such as flood prevention work which had secured DEFRA funding. Challenges to deliver adaptations were discussed and it was noted that current projects were not seeing major challenges to deliver, but that work with agricultural areas would be required to build consensus regarding flood elevation adaptions. The cost of delivering major projects to strengthen resilience to Climate Change were discussed and it was suggested that the Council could work on having projects ready should funding become available. The committee recognise that it is currently difficult to value the benefits from natural flood risk management interventions but the CYC project aims to develop future policy and best practice in this area’.

Resolved:

                      i.         To recommend that a scrutiny review be considered in relation to how the Council is developing natural adaption projects to Strengthening York's Resilience to Climate Change.

Reason:     To support the city becoming more Climate resilient.

This report outlines the policy and decision making that underlies a range of projects carried out over the last two years to develop highway verges and grassland for pollinators.

The Committee were updated regarding work undertaken by the Council in the last two years to develop highway verges and grassland for pollinators. Members welcomed the bottom up community lead approach and welcomed the partnership working with conservation trusts which they noted would be vital in maintaining pollinator areas.

Resolved:

                      i.         Noted that the policy context is set by highway safety

considerations and then by the pollinator strategy;

                     ii.         Noted the wards and communities develop and lead projects;

                    iii.        Noted that funding is likely to be through ward funding or external funding so the decision to instigate lies with the Ward Councillors;

                   iv.        Noted the ongoing maintenance needs to be considered both in terms of a plan and funding.

Reason:     To support the Pollinator Strategy.

This report provides an update on the conversion of the council’s street lamp columns to LED and reviews the progress of the technology of solar lighting and its suitability for street lighting.

The Committee were joined by Alen Howard from Williams Sale Partnership (WSP) to discuss street lighting in York. Members discussed the use of solar power for street lighting. It was noted that in winter months maintaining the required level of light was a challenge. It was confirmed that technology continued to improve but currently batteries and panels were unable to deliver to the Council’s requirements without larger lamp post designs, but this could change in time. It was noted that the Council was trailing solar powered lighting at Hull Road park to see how effective solar powered lighting could be for Council use.

Light levels were discussed with existing LED lighting. It was confirmed that the aim of lighting was to light the highway where needed and if there was issues relating to light pollution these should be raised with the Council. The level of light put out by street lighting was discussed and it was confirmed that the Council lowered the level of lighting in evenings and over night once peak use was passed.

Resolved:

                   i.        Noted the ongoing work to assess the suitability of solar lighting for street lighting.

Reason:     To support the Council’s climate change targets.