An update from Councillor Sue Cooper.
Minutes:
Councillor Sue Cooper provided the update.
Following the successful bid to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and the award of money for works to Cornerstone we would be looking at other buildings for further bidding opportunities. Contracts were being set up for decarbonisation at the leisure centres in the district and also the Riverside Park and Pool.
APSE had been appointed to undertake a feasibility study into investing in solar energy on council land, with an aim to offset the councils’ unavoidable carbon emissions. The report will include a financial model as well as contractual, planning and grid supply issues that will feed into future decisions about investments in a solar farm. A methodology for assessing areas of council owned land and buildings such as car parks will be beneficial.
A bid has been submitted to Net Zero Fast Followers Fund which if successful will fund an officer post to develop an approach to investment in nature-based carbon offsetting in Oxfordshire. This was being led by South Oxfordshire but other Oxfordshire authorities were partners in this.
Through Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) funding £700,000 had been secured to be used across the county to fund cable gullies enabling Oxfordshire residents with properties on the street to run an Electric Vehicle charging cable under the pavement to charge their EV vehicles. Members felt that it would be beneficial for villages to also be considered for cable gullies due to lack of off street parking.
Councillor Cooper talked about the ‘Let it Bee’ project which aimed to promote wildlife friendly management of council owned land. This followed on from the No-Mow May trials which ran across the last growing season. She identified that wildflowers had been planted in Cronshaw Close in Didcot as well as another site in Woodcote. She was hopeful to take this further in future.
Councillor Cooper reported that the bathing water status application at Wallingford had been unsuccessful and that there had been no response from Defra as to why the application had been unsuccessful. Members asked if a Freedom of Information request will be submitted to Defra due to their failure to respond. Councillor Cooper did not feel that it was a failure to respond but that there was a delay to the response. She felt a useful discussion on how we can progress in this area would be more beneficial.
Regarding the retrofitting of buildings, a member highlighted that we used to work with an organisation to offer tours of buildings and answer questions on works which had been carried out but the company provided the required insurances and associated admin. They asked if this was something we could consider again in future. It was noted this was labour intensive for officers but if funding was available this could be possible. The Senior Climate Action Officer stated this was something to be looked into but that written up case studies were where resource had been focused.
Councillor Cooper also noted that there were now car clubs operating in the district and a memorandum of understanding had been signed to allow the car clubs to use the EV chargers in council owned car parks.