Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bensly, Cameron, D Hammond & B Wright.

There were no declarations of interest declared at the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2022 were confirmed.

Proposer: Councillor P Carpenter

Seconder: Councillor Candon.

CARRIED.

There were no matters arising from the above minutes which were not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

The Committee received and considered the Forward Plan.

Councillor P Carpenter asked if the Committee would be writing to the seafront traders asking them to refrain from selling the plastic frisbee rings which could pose a danger to the seals and wildlife along the coast. 

Action:- That the Head of Environment & Sustainability send the usual letter to cover the 2023 summer season.

Councillor Talbot requested that an update report on dog fouling be added to the Forward Plan as there was a major issue in the Central & Northgate ward. The Head of Environment & Sustainability agreed to bring an overview report and action plan to a future meeting.

Action:- to add Dog Fouling Update report to Forward plan.

Councillor Waters-Bunn asked if a social media campaign could be implemented highlighting what could and could not be recycled to raise public awareness. The Head of Environment & Sustainability reported that this would form part of the comms and media plan for the Sustainability Strategy and the campaign would be launched in the next few weeks. The Chairman asked that the campaign details be sent to all Members.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note the Forward Plan.

The Committee received a presentation from Collette Parker & Emily Linsdell,  Anglian Water.

Councillor Bird suggested that Collette contact the Hoteliers Association to help get this important information out to the hoteliers and landlords of the Borough. The Chairman suggested that Collette contact the GY Tourism Bid & the Town Centre Bid. Councillor Bird was also concerned how the message could get out to those residents where English was not the first language. Collette reported that stickers were available for kitchens and bathrooms promoting the messages in a picture format.

Councillor Talbot highlighted the use of bath bombs which contained thousands of micro-plastics and whether the use of natural bathing products could be promoted.

Councillor Talbot asked if a collection service was available for used fats and oils. Collette reported that the Borough could perhaps act as a model authority as NCC might be able to support a joined-up collection campaign with Living Fuels.

Councillor P Carpenter asked for clarification as to what was contained in the Gardening Pack and whether Anglian Water went into schools to talk to schoolchildren who would ultimately educate their parents.

Councillor Waters-Bunn asked for clarification as to how long the Community Marshalls would be able to work with Collette and her team as their contracts expired at the end of March 2023. The Strategic Director reported that several possible funding streams were being explored to fund the retention of the Community Marshalls.

The Chairman suggested that Collette talk to James Wilson after the meeting in regard to working in partnership with the members of the Norfolk Waste Partnership.

The Chairman asked for clarification as to whether Collette and her team would work with the rural communities. Collette reported that the data informed AW where they needed to go.

Councillor Martin asked for clarification in relation to the recharge of £290k as detailed on slide number 13. Councillor Martin suggested that Collette should contact the Out There Festival and Freshly Greated as she had indicated that AW were keen to work with the Arts to promote their messages.

The Chairman thanked Collette & Emily for an informative presentation.

The Committee received and considered the report from the Principal Strategic Planner.

The Principal Strategic Planner reported that the Norfolk Coast Partnership is an ‘outside body’ partnership comprising officer and local councillor membership from each of the local authorities within the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The AONB is a statutory designation under section 82 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act) for the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty qualities of that area. Within the Borough, the AONB forms a small part of the northern tip of the Borough in Winterton and Somerton. 

Under the responsibilities to conserve and enhance the AONB area, the partnership must prepare a management plan. While a management plan for 2019-2024 had already been prepared, concern was raised by other partners that the document was not fit for purpose as it went beyond the statutory requirements and in some case had not been officially endorsed or adopted by partnership authorities. Following a review by the Partnership, it was recommended that the previous adopted management plan (from 2014-2019) could be made fit for purpose with relatively minor updates but would need to be adopted by partnership authorities. 

The Norfolk Coast AONB Management Plan is a high level document setting out:-

• How the Partnership will work together

• What the special qualities of the area are with a ‘Statement of Significance’

• An assessment of the condition of the area

• The key drivers for change within the area

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee adopts the revised Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan.

The Committee received and considered the report from the Head of Environment & Sustainability.

The Head of Environment & Sustainability reported that the sustainability Strategy and action plan were agreed by members earlier in the year. The strategy laid out 3 key challenges for us to tackle these were:-

• The Climate Challenge: Globally the world faces increasing climate insecurity driven by an unprecedented rise in temperature and the release of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. 

• The Nature Challenge: In the last 50 years the UK has witnessed a dramatic loss in the diversity of species present in our natural areas. ‘Biodiversity’ is a measure of a natural systems resilience and the loss of biodiversity limits nature’s capacity to respond to change.

• The Waste Challenge: The health and quality of ecosystems is negatively affected by increasing levels of pollution; both from the release of chemicals and the mismanagement of physical waste.

The Council has recently recruited into the climate change officer post to take forward this work on a more coordinated approach, however this update shows the significant amount of work that is already being done across the Council to achieve the objectives laid out in the action plan. 

LAD (local authority decarbonisation) and HUG (housing upgrade grant) – The Council has had great success working with EON in pulling in significant funding into the Borough to improve both our existing housing stock and those in the private rented sector. The LAD scheme is focussed on, whilst the HUG scheme is for improving energy efficiency and clean heating upgrades for owner occupiers and the private rented sector fuel poor homes off the existing gas grid. 

We have also applied for additional HUG2 funding of approximately £6.5million over the next 2 years, we are waiting to hear if this has been successful. 

Electric Vehicle Charging – The Council has been successful in funding 17 twin charging points across Council car parks, we are working with partners and seeking additional funding for further charging points network of charging point.

Fleet Strategy – We have recently had a sustainable fleet strategy developed and agreed at Council, taking forward our aspirations and objective3 to deliver a more sustainable and greener fleet across the Council. This includes the first electric RCV in 23/24. 

FACET project – The Council has worked with Norfolk County Council to deliver the FAECT project with the aim of making the tourist sector more sustainable and promoting the concept of a circular economy. This has meant rolling out increased bin capacity and recycling on the go in Great Yarmouth and Hemsby seafront locations. Also 3 recycling bottleship sculptures promoting the recycling of bottles on the seafront in Hemsby, Great Yarmouth and Gorleston. Other projects have been around reducing single use cups in Hemsby with the reusable cup, smart litter bind and composting/wormeries in local businesses.

Trees for Cities – As part of the Councils commitment to sustainability we have already planted over 50 trees and are in the process of planting 200 more trees during this planting season as part of the trees for cities scheme. 

Once the climate climate change officer has started, we will have the resource in place to move forward with more of the planned objectives and coordinate the work we are doing across the Council already to deliver the aims of the sustainability strategy.

Sustainability Forum - one of the first tasks for the newly appointed Climate Change officer will be to set up the Sustainability Forum, pulling together key individuals and organisations across the Borough to working together on making the Borough sustainable through partnership working and funding opportunities. 

Data gathering and monitoring – During the initial work on the carbon footprint assessment, we did struggle to obtain data that allowed us to understand our carbon footprint, therefore one of the key roles for the climate change officer will be to work with officers to understand what data we need, how we can obtain this and then setup a reporting and monitoring regime.

Housing Stock – During the initial work on the Council carbon footprint, it was decided not to include the housing stock in these figures. There will now need to be piece of work to understand the carbon footprint of the Councils housing stock and its impact on the overall Carbon footprint of the Council. 

On street charging – As mentioned above the Council has had great success in delivering a network of electric charging points across its car parks and it currently working with partners to seek funding to deliver on street charging points in the Borough. 

Website – Making sure both our website and internal loop pages are updated and providing the latest information to public businesses and staff around current initiatives and tips on how to improve their sustainability. Also ensuring we are keeping everyone up to date with the Councils progress on this work. 

The Head of Environment & Sustainability would continue to provide 6 monthly updates to the environment committee on progress and updates on any specific projects as necessary.

Councillor Candon reported that he was pleased that the strategy had been implemented is such a positive manner.

The Chairman asked for confirmation that the non-cutting of the Gorleston Cliffs would be re-visited in the Gorleston Seafront Masterplan.

Councillor Jeal highlighted the number of targets that were shown as being red or amber. The Chairman reported that the strategy was only a few months old and had not had the requisite staffing numbers. The Strategic Director informed the Committee that this was year 1 of a 3 year plan and that catch-up would begin in year 2 as a climate change officer was now in post.

Councillor Waters-Bunn asked for clarification in regard to the bio-diversity study at Bluebell Woods in Bradwell. The Strategic Director reported that this issue had been addressed by the Media & Comms Manager as this had been a misunderstanding on social media. Bio-diversity opportunities in partnership with the Norfolk Wildlife Trust had been identified and a round-table meeting would be held shortly to progress.

Councillor Talbot asked if a review of litter bin sites across the borough would be undertaken. The Head of Environment & Sustainability reported that a review would be undertaken once this function was moved across to Environmental Services from Property Services as it was essential that litter bins were put in the right places. Councillor Talbot asked if dedicated dog waste bins could be placed along Tar Works Road as there was no provision in this well-used dog walking area.

RESOLVED:-

That the Committee note the actions taken so far to progress this Action Plan and endorse the planned future actions.

The Chairman reported that there was no other business being of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration at the meeting.