New Forest Borough Council Environment and Sustainability Overview and Scrutiny Panel Meeting

That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2022 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Cllr Wade declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 6 as a member of Hampshire County Council, which was the waste disposal authority for the waste and recycling collected in the New Forest District Council area. He concluded that there were no grounds under common law to prevent him from remaining in the meeting to speak and vote on the matter.

The following member of the public had registered to speak in accordance with the Council’s Public Participation Scheme: -

·       Venetia Rowland

The member of the public spoke in respect of the Consultation of Minerals and Waste Plan, at minute 33 below.

The Panel noted that it was responsible for the overview and scrutiny of the following Cabinet Portfolio Holders and their areas of responsibility:

1.    Environment and Coastal Services (Portfolio Holder - Cllr Steve Davies)

a.    Waste Strategy

b.    Refuse & Recycling Collection

c.    Climate and Sustainability

d.    Land Drainage

e.    Coastal Protection

f.     Car Parking/road Closures

g.    Beach Huts and Keyhaven

2.    Planning, Regeneration and Infrastructure (Portfolio Holder - Cllr Diane Andrews)

a.    Local Plan

b.    Development Management

c.    Building Control

d.    Listed Buildings and Conservation

e.    Town Centre Regeneration

f.     Land Charges

The Portfolio Holder for Planning, Regeneration and Infrastructure addressed the Panel. She gave an update on the following:

·       Planning consent for a Strategic Site development of 404 dwellings, a community hub and a convenience store, had been granted by the New Forest District Council (NFDC) Planning Committee at their meeting on 11 January 2023.

·       Running parallel to this development, the Infrastructure Delivery Plan provides a comprehensive list of requirements that will mitigate the impact of the Strategic Site development. This includes 22 units of affordable housing in the first phase.

·       A new member of staff had been recruited for the Building Control team.

·       On phosphates, there had been an embargo upon building in the Avon Valley as of 2018. The Portfolio Holder was pleased to say that the Private Sector had come forward with a solution, utilising their own land to offset nutrients and, in some examples, had created new wetlands or fallow land sites. Developers could therefore now buy credits from said third parties to allow a way forward with a means to unlock the embargo. This was hoped to enable more housing to be developed in the District.

·       £200,000 of funding was provided last year to work on phosphates, nitrates, biodiversity, and net gain in terms of housing development.

·       Different projects were ongoing, with changes proposed in the Regeneration and Levelling Up Bill for 2030, which would see a change in permits placing more of the responsibility for nutrient removal on water companies, who are one of the two main sources of nutrient pollution.

A member of the Panel commented on the impacts of schemes the size of the recently approved Strategic Site in Fordingbridge upon local infrastructure. The Panel were reassured by the Portfolio Holder that mitigations had been put in place for this scheme but that members should also engage with the development of the new Local Plan so that local knowledge and experience can be accounted for in the process. Member involvement will also improve understanding and knowledge on planning matters of this scale.

A member of the panel asked a question on the issue of phosphates and nitrates and the impact they have on developments in the District. The Panel were told that currently the developer contribution for nitrate mitigation was around £3000, with the figure for Phosphates being considerably more. Work was being undertaken with partners in the Solent area on this matter and a strategic role had been created to look at the issue of nitrates and phosphates.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Coastal Services addressed the Panel. He gave an update on the following:

·       The new Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) would not be operational until 2025, This meant there would be a change in service delivery order whereby wheeled bins for garden waste would be introduced in 2024 with the changes for waste and recycling being introduced in 2025.

·       Since the last meeting of the Panel, the Portfolio Holder had attended the annual meeting of the Project Integra Steering Board. Information shared at the meeting was useful, with particular emphasis on the quality of materials that should be sent to recycling facilities in order to avoid contamination.

·       The Portfolio Holder had visited several waste depots to observe the work undertaken by the teams. He expressed admiration for the staff that worked in depots across the District.

·       The Christchurch Bay & Harbour Coastal Protection Strategy remained on target for completion in 2024 and public meetings on this matter had been held in Christchurch and Milford receiving good turnouts to review the round 4 engagement short list options.

·       The Portfolio Holder met with Cllr Dowd and a resident of the Hythe Ward in December 2022 to discuss the concerns over flooding,

·       The Portfolio Holder had visited Hurst Spit whilst North Point recycling works were being undertaken and was pleased to say that the works had now been completed.

·       Electric charging points had been installed at several points across the District with more to follow.

·       The annual meeting with officers and the Beach Hut Owners Association had taken place and conversations remained open on the issue of proposed increases to the annual licence fee which would be considered by Full Council.

A member asked about the length of time it takes to fully charge an electric vehicle at a charging point. The Portfolio Holder explained that different vehicles had different  charging times and that on average it could be about 4 hours for full charge.

The Panel were informed that beach hut vandalism remained low and that call outs to deal with vandalism in this area were at a lower rate than previous years. Furthermore, the shingles on the seafront promenade at Milford on Sea was last cleared between 12-14 December. There is less demand to clear the promenade in the Winter due to the lower numbers of visitors to the seafront, however recent bad weather meant that this December clean was required.

The Panel received an update on the Waste Programme. The Waste Programme strategy was approved in July 2022.

Implementation planning for the new system was underway and a revised timetable had now been produced. Due to the complexity of implementing a new waste programme, as well as delays in National Government action, the new timeline would see wheeled bins for garden waste collections be introduced in 2024. The rest of the kerbside collection system would see the introduction of wheeled bins for general waste and mixed recycling, with a separate collection of paper and card in a reusable bag and move to fortnightly collections in 2025. A weekly food waste collection service would also be introduced.

The Panel were reminded of the infrastructure developments that were required to implement the new services, namely the new MRF that would be built in Eastleigh. Planning consent had been granted by Hampshire County Council for this facility and it was expected to be built and operational by mid-2025.

There were two other projects running parallel to the Waste Strategy, these being the relocation to Hardley Depot and the ICT back-office system improvements. The planning application for Hardley Depot was hoped to be considered at the March Planning Committee meeting and the ICT project would be rolled out later this year.

The Panel were informed that charges and fees for the Garden Waste collection service were not fixed nationally by the Government and that the fee would be agreed by Council on an annual basis. Members heard that the charge for using the Garden Waste service would be dependent on the cost of running the service and other impacts, such as inflation. Currently, 25% of households in the District had subscribed for the Garden Waste service and it was hoped that with the change to the service that the subscription level would increase over time.

At present, Hampshire County Council had confirmed that there was sufficient regional capacity to process the amount of food waste that is produced within the county. The Panel were told that, when measured by weight, food waste accounted for 40% of household general waste within the District. Food Waste containers would be rolled out at the same time as the other bins in 2025.

RESOLVED:

That the Waste Programme update be noted.

The Panel received a detailed presentation on the Southeast Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme (SRCMP). The Programme Manager of the Channel Coastal Observatory explained to members both the aims of the SRCMP as well as the coastal monitoring work that was ongoing. The Channel Coastal Observatory, part of the Coastal Team at NFDC, were the lead organisation for the South East’s Coastal Monitoring Programme.

The main areas of focus for the team were to provide an evidence base for coastal erosion risk management as well as supporting the Risk Management Authorities on several of their strategies and programmes with a view to ultimately prevent coastal erosion across the country. This project would be fully funded by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) with a total budget of £12,382,000. The programme was currently in Phase III. The Panel were told that the collection of data sets, including topographical, lidar, aerial photography and bathymetric data formed the core area of the programme. This data is used to inform current and future management of the coastline, with regard to flood and coastal erosion risk. A coastal asset register was being produced, having started last year, which focused on the efforts of collating existing asset data in the Southeast region, of which the data was all freely available on the organisation’s website, Coastalmonitoring.org. The history of coastal management saw data records that extended back 20 years in the southeast.

Members heard that the Channel Coastal Observatory maintained a hydrodynamic network of buoys, tide gauges and meteorological stations and that this network of instruments provided a national service for flood and storm forecasting as well as analysis and technical data for future management. As an example, the Lymington Tide Gauge had collected 16 years of data since April 2007 and had provided information on water levels and tide surges at Lymington on a daily basis.

Specific monitoring of Barton Cliffs had been undertaken since 1995 and aerial photography of the site was produced every two years with movement of the cliff itself being monitored and recorded.

Overall, it was explained that at this point during Phase III of the programme, CCO had collected 21 years of wave data, 14 years of tide data, 17.5 years of meteorological data, with 101 beach profile surveys undertaken and full LiDAR and Aerial Photography captures completed since 2021. This put the project in a strong position to proceed from 2023 onwards.

A member asked whether the District was experiencing noticeable loss and erosion of cliffs and beaches to which the Panel heard that some areas were more likely to be affected by coastal erosion than others, such as Barton Cliffs

The Panel received a presentation on the proposed Coastal Water Safety Policy. The Coastal Team were currently reviewing coastal sites within NFDC ownership or management. From this, a Coastal Water Safety Policy was being developed which would include several elements. Including, but not limited to: a risk assessment of all of the coastal sites within the District, a review of the public safety signage, a review of the current public rescue equipment, the implementation of the findings of the risk assessments and a review of the inspection regimes and roles.

The purpose of this new review was to incorporate and acknowledge new guidance and legislation. Previous reviews, undertaken by the Health and Safety Team and supported by the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI), were focused on the main beach sites within the District, rather than all of the coastal areas.

Given the variety of coastal sites across the District, including beaches, slipways, waterways, swim zones, structures and quays, it was heard that there were an equally varied amount of hazards present. These included:  tides and currents, vessel and tidal surges, changing beach levels and storm waves. Throughout this work, a number of information sources had been evaluated and initial engagement had been made with the RNLI for them to be appointed as the competent supplier to undertake site assessments. These assessments would take place during April/May 2023 and A Water Safety Policy consultation and review would be conducted after May 2023. Following these, an implementation plan would be made listing the identified actions required.

Specific steps were being taken to ensure that all Keyhaven river management and operations complied with the Port Marine Safety Code. The Panel heard that NFDC would also put in place a Marine Management Safety Scheme as well as a suitable candidate for a ‘Designated Person’ in order to reach the required standards.

Following questions from members, it was heard that:

·       NFDC lease some coastal sites within the District, in order to create better public access links to the coastal sites that NFDC already own and manage.

·       NFDC manage and operate 35 pieces of public safety/rescue equipment.

·       The Coastal team were conscious of the need for some services to explore inland water safety at some stage.

·       The idea of a water forum had been considered where public information and education on water safety could be shared from a centralised and public-friendly location.

The Panel received a presentation on the Climate Change Supplementary Planning Document (CCSPD).

The draft CCSPD would be considered by Cabinet in March. The CCSPD supports local plan policy and acknowledges NFDC’s climate and nature emergency declaration made in 2021.

The Panel heard that 40% of UK Carbon Dioxide (CO2) was emitted by UK households, primarily from the heating systems, resulting in 2 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year per typical household. Best practice means that energy consumption could be reduced to quarter of current average rates for households and that a home could be operated at zero carbon if fitted with solar panels. It was explained that it costs, on average, £20,000 more to retrofit a home to best practice standards than it would to build to best practice standards in the first place.

The Panel were informed that a CCSPD would help to mitigate and adapt to climate change locally. Mitigation would focus on reducing carbon and greenhouse gasses as part of international efforts to stabilise climate change by limiting temperature rises to 1.5oC. Adapting to climate change would require the improving of resilience of buildings and built-up areas to climatic extremes.

Members heard of the national context regarding climate change action and were reminded of the aims of the Climate Change Act 2008, the Sixth Carbon Budget 2020, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the National Planning Policy Framework. All of these pieces of legislation and policy contain commitments and requirements to mitigate climate change.

NFDC had made a commitment in their new build programme, Greener Housing Policy and local plan policies STR1 and ENV3 to achieve sustainable development and design quality buildings that improve resource efficiency and climate change resilience, reducing environmental impacts wherever capable of being effective.

The Panel received an overview of the CCSPD and heard how would clarify how developers should address climate change in planning applications to ensure that developments are optimised before detailed plans are submitted for approval. The mechanism by which this requirement would be met would be through a Climate Change Statement that would be prepared and submitted by developers as part of the planning application process. CCSPD also sets out best practice approaches and standards that developers will be encouraged to target, including taking the practicable steps to decarbonise the running of buildings, to be net zero in operation where possible, to try to reduce embodied carbon in construction and the ensure that development is adapted for future climatic extremes. Members were told that a net zero carbon building would be challenging to achieve, requiring a threefold approach of: renewable energy, energy efficient design and low carbon heating. Sustainable and active travel through cycling, walking or electric vehicles (EVs) would also be encouraged through the SPD.

The Panel were told that the next steps for the CCSPD were as follows:

•           On the 1 March 2023 the CCSPD report would be considered by Cabinet with the recommendation to submit the CCSPD for public consultation.

•           In May-June 2023 the public consultation will take place.

•           In Summer 2023 a review of the consultation will take place and the feedback will be published in order to update the CCSPD.

•           Autumn 2023 will see a report on the updated CCSPD go through both Cabinet and then Council with the recommendation for adoption.

A member asked a question on renewable construction and the scale of sustainable developments. It was heard that some volume housebuilders already have zero carbon products, but that supply chains are still developing and do not yet exist at a scale sufficient to mass produce all homes to net zero carbon standards now. Individuals seemed willing to buy energy efficient homes, and the cost savings to run them should help offset slightly higher construction costs in the short to medium term.

Following a question from a Member, the Panel heard that at the time of public consultation there would be business fora held to promote the profile of the CCSPD.

The Panel received a presentation on the Climate and Nature Emergency from the Council’s new Climate Change Manager.

The Panel heard that the District expected to experience hotter drier Summers, warmer wetter Winters and more frequent and extreme heatwaves, droughts, flooding and coastal erosion.

The Climate Change Manager referenced the National strategies and how the Council would aim to translate this into local action, building on the Climate Change Emergency that the Council declared in 2021. This local action would take shape through the 2022 Action Plan and Strategic Objectives set by the Council. Work on how to progress this ongoing with the Annual Report going to Cabinet in February followed by the detailed 2023 Summer Strategy. These works would take place collaboratively between Hampshire County Council, the New Forest National Park and NFDC.

The Strategy would cross several, wide areas of Council responsibility, such as District residents, businesses, visitors and economy. Each area of focus would be composed of several aspects. Health and wellbeing, accessibility and transport, housing suitability, habitat degradation, storm damage, species loss, food growing, service delivery and waste generation would all form part of the overall strategy.

The New Forest area emits 928,000 tonnes of carbon in 2019. This means the area produces the largest number of emissions for home and industry and second largest for transport and commercial operations within the County. However, the New Forest has a natural sink due to the verdant environment.

The NFDC recorded 3,500 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2020/2021 with approximately 8.8 million kWh of energy bought for £640,000. The biggest sources of emissions are the Council’s fleet (46%), gas use and electricity use.

Four areas will align the Climate and Nature Action from 2023 onwards. These will include big emission areas and climate change adaptation. The three programme areas are:

·       Carbon Reduction

·       Climate Adaptations

·       Nature Recovery.

These areas will be underpinned by Programme Management platform to ensure that the Council is communicating where necessary, sharing data, building up partnerships and supporting the work in the most effective way.

That the Green Infrastructure Update be considered at the Panel’s next meeting on 9 March 2023.

RESOLVED:

That the New Forest Visitor Study Update be considered at the Panel’s next meeting on 9 March 2023.

Mrs Venetia Rowland, a local resident, addressed the panel in objection to the Hampshire County Council Mineral and Waste Plan.

She felt that there had been an overestimation of the need for soft sand and gravel by Hampshire County Council for over thirty years and that there had been a reduction in the use of recycled and secondary aggregate production.

Midgham Farm and Cobley Wood Farm were highlighted as two particular extraction sites that would have substantial harmful impact to the area. It was felt that there would be adverse environmental impacts on the local area, extreme sound impacts, cumulative effects from the other active sites and unacceptable implications arising from excess traffic movements.

The member of the public expressed that in their opinion the timeframe for consultation was inadequate due of the lack of accessibility information, the lack of open events, the online documentation amongst other things.

The Panel considered the statement and thanked the member of the public for attending.

The Planning Policy Officer gave the Panel a presentation on the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Plan Consultation. It was heard that there had been a partial update to the plan published in November 2022 for public consultation which concludes on 31st January 2023 which included the commissioning of a consultation at the end of January 2023. This formed part of the is a partial update to the original plan adopted in 2013. The plan was jointly produced by Hampshire County Council, the two City Councils and the two National Parks and the recent review in 2020 concluded that only certain parts of the plan needed updating to reflect changes in national policy. NFDC is one of many consultees.

The plan’s purpose and scope were are to enable enough minerals to be extracted for Hampshire’s needs and to deal with waste effectively, using it as a renewable energy source were appropriate, covering the period up to 2040. The aims of the plan were are the identification of sites for aggregate extraction and waste processing, mitigating adverse effects from those sites, setting out policies for each mineral type/waste stream and safeguarding mineral and waste infrastructure.

Members were informed reminded that the New Forest contained extensive mineral deposits, primarily being sand and gravel. Existing safeguard plans to protect certain sites are in place. The partial update details additional sites for this purpose.

New policies within the update include:

•                Requirements for biodiversity net gain from all developments.

•                Climate Change Assessments to be submitted with each planning application.

•                A stronger application of the waste hierarchy.

•                An update of site allocations to enable a steady and adequate supply of aggregates.

The next steps would be the detailed response to Hampshire County Council, fulfilling the consultation request, by the 31 January 2023 by way of a Portfolio Holder Decision. A further round of consultation would take place in 2023 and the County Council aim to proceed to public examination in the later months of 2024.

Following a question from a member, the Panel heard that there had not been detailed information provided on the transport aspects of the update. This was the first time the District Council had seen the sites be proposed, however the further information on the transport and highways impact would be an important part of the Council’s response to the Consultation.

Concern was also raised over the environmental impact of the HGV transportation arrangements and the Panel were reassured that the Council would raise concern over all elements of potential impact on the area and the environment.

On contamination, the Panel were informed that asbestos disposal regimes were available and highly controlled from the point of extraction to burial, involving both the Environment Agency and the Waste Authority.

Members were reassured that the Council’s consultation response on the Mineral and Waste Plan would be wide reaching and take account of all the varying aspects of potential impact, such as water contamination and carbon emissions.

RESOLVED:

That the Work Programme be approved.

            The Panel considered a motion from Council, submitted by Cllr M Wade, concerning the impact that the cost-of-living crisis was having on farmers within the New Forest. The Panel considered that, due to the rising costs of day-to-day goods, such as feed and fertiliser, some farmers were having to consider whether to sell their back up land, much of which has Forest Rights and is important to the sustainability of the ancient New Forest tradition of commoning.

RESOLVED:

That the Panel recommend to Council to agree the motion by expressing its concern over the financial state of the farming community and, in cooperation with the Executive Head Planning Regeneration and Economy, write to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs requesting greater financial support for farmers.

The Chairman informed the Panel that this was Manjit Sandhu’s last Panel meeting, as she would be leaving her current role as Executive Head of Partnerships and Operations, on 31 January 2023.  Manjit had been with the Council for 25 years, and on behalf of the Panel, the Chairman wished to place on record members’ sincere thanks for her long, dedicated service, help and advice.