Response Group Meeting Minutes, 3rd July 2024

Attendees

Meg Booth                              Devon County Council (Chair)

Doug Eltham                           Devon County Council (Environment Group)

Emily Reed                             Devon Climate Emergency

Adam Williams                       South Hams and West Devon Councils

Chris Clarke                            Wales and West Utilities

David Bartram                        Exeter City Council

Donna Sibley                          North Devon and Torridge District Councils

David Edmondson                  Torbay Council

Sophie Goodall-Smith            Environment Agency

John Amosford                       Public Health Devon

Mark Burton                            Devon County Council (Economy and Enterprise)

Polly Frost                               Devon County Council (Economy and Enterprise)

Rachel Phillips                        Devon County Council (Transport Coordination Services)

Victoria Hatfield                      Exeter City Council

1. Minutes of previous meeting

The minutes were accepted to be a true record. No further questions asked.

Matters Arising:

Chris advised there is a broad hydrogen plan for Plymouth to act as a supply point bringing in hydrogen from Milford Haven. Concept at this stage. Donna added that £100k has been awarded in northern Devon from the South West Net-Zero Hub to look at hydrogen pathways for the area. This will feed into the Local Area Energy Plan.

2. Zero Emissions Bus in Rural Areas Scheme

Rachel Phillips attended to present.

Bid covers 75% of the cost difference between diesel and low emission buses, plus 75% of infrastructure costs. A double decker bus costs £300k. An electric version is £500k.

Stagecoach and DCC were awarded £5.3m in Exeter and North Devon. Torbay with Stagecoach received £7.1m. Over £30m investment by Stagecoach alongside this.

First vehicles arriving in Exeter in June 2025, and vehicles in Torbay and North Devon later that year.

Electric is the chosen propulsion as the cost of hydrogen is currently a lot higher. Co-benefits include improved air quality, noise reduction, increased passenger comfort and cascading of newer vehicles in the Stagecoach fleet to displace older vehicles that will be removed from the road.

All of the infrastructure will be rapid charging installed at depots. Facilities in Exeter could be made available for public charging. Also looking at the feasibility to connect with the Matford Livestock Market solar array in Exeter.

This is part of the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and Enhanced Partnership. This setup the Devon BUS brand, which will be used for the new vehicles, and setup the Bus User and Stakeholder Forum. The BSIP received £14m funding to deliver bus priority measures, upgrades to bus stop infrastructure and bus stations, real-time information improvements and multi-modal integration and county-wide pinch-point removals to ease flow of buses through market towns.

David added that National Grid has provided reassurance that capacity is available for the charging infrastructure.

The Group discussed the implications of the buses on air quality and their additional weight on highways maintenance.

3.  Progress Reports

3.1  General Progress Report

The progress reported appended to these minutes was circulated ahead of this meeting and considered by the Group.

John noted that the University of Exeter has received recent sustainability awards which should also be highlighted alongside those for the University of Plymouth.

The Climate Impacts Group has recommended seeking reassurance that the current focus of South West Water on water quality is not detracting from longer-term plans to complete the Water Resources Management Strategy.

ACTION: Meg and Emily to meet to discuss approaching South West Water.

The Task Force considers the recent decision by the Exeter Highways and Traffic Orders Committee (HATOC) to end the Active Streets Trial in Heavitree and Whipton as a major setback to providing safe infrastructure for walking, wheeling, and cycling, contrary to the Devon Carbon Plan. The Task Force recommends that the Response Group give urgent attention to updating plans for achieving Action T11 (Reallocate road capacity to sustainable modes), to avoid further delays on progress towards Goal TB (Using active, shared and public transport is safe, efficient and affordable). They urge the Response Group to consider the national evidence of the effectiveness of Low Traffic Neighbourhood measures in future schemes, which demonstrate benefits for active travel and air quality in the areas.

ACTION: Emily to approach the Transport Planning team to collate examples of where Action T11 is being implemented elsewhere.

The Task Force would like to see further progress on action F10 (Explore how the County Farms estate could be used to demonstrate low-carbon agriculture.) They also encourage other partners that own land that is farmed to do the same.

Meg reported there are discussions about this occurring at strategic level, and it has been logged by DCC’s Climate, Infrastructure and Modernisation transformation group for consideration.

The Task Force also mentioned that housebuilders have mandatory requirements to put in electric vehicle chargers. But in Devon some housebuilders are being told by National Grid there will be significant delays before the chargers can be connected – some as late as 2027. The partnership should consider how this situation can be improved.

Meg advised that this is the same for public infrastructure in some places. National Grid is aware of the issues for which there is no quick solution. It can be addressed through the Local Area Energy Planning work.

3.2  Climate Adaptation Action Plan Progress Report

Emily highlighted a number of actions in the progress report.

The Water Resources Management Plan is hoped to be published by South West Water by the end of 2024.

There is a grant scheme open through Wild About Devon to enable community organisations to act for wildlife.

The Devon and Cornwall Public Health Committee now has a standing agenda item on climate change.

3.3  Net-Zero Delivery Problems and Successes  

The Group noted the significant activity in Devon under the Landscape Recovery tier of the environmental land management schemes.

Appendix 1: Project Progress Report

Period: June to July 2024

1. Partnership Update 

 1.1 General Communications  

Follower growth across all channels has fallen below 1% in June, potentially due to less frequent use of Instagram and Facebook ‘Stories’ features or lower organic engagement with other accounts due to capacity. The new Climate Emergency Support Officer is starting on the 8^th July, it is anticipated that this extra capacity will increase follower growth over the coming months.

Figure 1. DCE Online Following

1.2 Partners’ Notable Activity

Activity is recorded centrally on the Taking Action pages of the Devon Climate Emergency website.

• The University of Plymouth has been recognised as one of the top universities globally for its commitment to sustainability and its efforts to influence sustainable policy and action.
• The South West’s aerospace sector has secured £236,000 to create a Future Flight Innovation Zone (FFIZ) in Devon and Somerset, with a goal of accelerating the decarbonisation of flight.
• Devon residents eligible for concessionary bus passes are being encouraged to use local services as part of the national ‘Take The Bus‘ campaign.
• Free Sunday Bus travel was offered in North Devon during June, to inspire greater use of public transport.
• New support is being offered to South Hams construction businesses to decarbonise.

2. Oversight of the Devon Carbon Plan

The Progress Reports detailing known activity against each action are on the website. A summary of the number of actions categorised by each RAG status is provided below, split by theme.

Note that each theme of the carbon plan is reviewed every 6 months, which means the RAG status will not change significantly within the monthly periods of this progress report.

NO CHANGE IN STATUS THIS MONTH

Blue = Completed

Green = Generally progressing well

Amber = Progressing but geography or scope is limited

Red = Not started or activity significantly limited

Grey = Not yet assessed

Built Environment

Common Issues

• Finance required to expand geography.
• Finance required for more people resource, particularly spatial planning.

Economy and Resources

Common Issues

• Clearer guidance from government on aspects of waste management needed.
• Finance required for more people resource.

Energy Supply

Common Issues

• Government appetite to address issues e.g. grid capacity, planning for wind.
• Availability of capital finance.

Food, Land and Sea

Common Issues

• Complexity of agendas, e.g. Land Use Framework and Local Nature Recovery Strategy.
• Finance required to expand geography and scope.

Transport

Common Issues

• Public concern about EVs and reallocating highway space for sustainable modes.
• Grid capacity.
• Availability of capital finance.

Cross-Cutting Themes

Common Issues

• Finance required for more people resource, particularly spatial planning.

• Finance required to expand geography.

The first phase of publishing the monitoring indicators went live on 3^rd April. The University of Exeter is helping to expand the indicator set, which will be added to the web page incrementally. This is ongoing.

3. Oversight of the Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Climate Adaptation Strategy

The Climate Impacts Group is continuing its programme to review all the risks and near-term actions each year.

At the June meeting of the Climate Impacts Group, it was recommended that the Response Group seek reassurance from Southwest Water that the immediate issues of coastal water quality and cryptosporidium are not detracting focus from the preparation of the Water Resources Management Strategy

4. Feedback from the Climate Task Force

The Devon Climate Task Force held its latest quarterly meeting in June and made the following recommendations, to be considered by the Response Group in July.

• The Task Force considers the recent decision by the Exeter Highways and Traffic Orders Committee (HATOC) to end the Active Streets Trial in Heavitree and Whipton as a major setback to providing safe infrastructure for walking, wheeling, and cycling, contrary to the Devon Carbon Plan. The Task Force recommends that the Response Group give urgent attention to updating plans for achieving Action T11 (Reallocate road capacity to sustainable modes), to avoid further delays on progress towards Goal TB (Using active, shared and public transport is safe, efficient and affordable). They urge the Response Group to consider the national evidence of the effectiveness of Low Traffic Neighbourhood measures in future schemes, which demonstrate benefits for active travel and air quality in the areas.
• The Task Force would like to see further progress on action F10 (Explore how the County Farms estate could be used to demonstrate low-carbon agriculture.) They also encourage other partners that own land that is farmed to do the same.
• Housebuilders have mandatory requirements to put in electric vehicle chargers. But in Devon some housebuilders are being told by National Grid there will be significant delays before the chargers can be connected – some as late as 2027. The partnership should consider how this situation can be improved.

Updates on the Climate Task Force recommendations from March:

• Consider understanding what is needed to move each action from amber to green.

Update: No progress this month. Will be looked at following the appointment of the Climate Emergency Support Officer which will free-up some of Emily’s time.

• Mass-market retrofitting of buildings is still not happening quickly enough because the costs are high and the revenue savings are small in comparison. A retrofit summit should bring together key players to have a deep conversation about long-term solutions and to prepare a retrofit strategy.

Update: The Energy Saving Devon partnership submitted an expression of interest in response to an invitation from the MCS Foundation to pilot a support package for local areas to develop retrofit strategies. This would deliver a series of four full-day workshops. Unfortunately we were not successful. Further funding opportunities will be looked for to take this project forward.

Doug Eltham presented the issues with enabling mass-market retrofit to the Devon Housing Commission on the 24^th May.

• The role of spatial planning in net-zero is not being delivered fully. Need to revisit conversations with the Devon and Cornwall Planning Officers Group (DCPOG) to refresh the needs of planning teams and subsequently reengage Team Devon.

Update: Doug attended the DCPOG on June 6^th. It was agreed for a sub-group to prepare examples of how planning authorities have incorporated policies that implement the policy asks of the Devon Carbon Plan into Local Plans. These examples will be used as a checklist by planners when updating Local Plans.

5. Devolution Update

In the light of the announcement of the general election, Torbay Council and Devon CC are seeking clarity from Government officials on how the legislative process for setting up the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority will be affected.

Discussions about how to prioritise the £16m capital spend in 2024/25 are continuing, much of which will contribute to net-zero.