North Norfolk District Council takes a responsible long-term view to providing a sustainable and quality environment for its residents. In North Norfolk we are fortunate to enjoy a varied and high quality environment, however the Council recognises that social and economic activities can have a negative impact on the quality of this environment, both at a local and global scale.
The challenge that we face is therefore to provide a sustainable balance between protecting and enhancing our environment and maintaining our social and economic development.
The Council is also committed to reducing its corporate environmental impact and implementing our Carbon Management Plan is the main way we will achieve this. Our CO
2
reduction target will also ensure that we reduce use of energy which will help to minimise future cost increases for the Council. In this way the environmental aims of the Council directly contribute to its efficiency saving agenda.
As portfolio holder I believe it is essential for the Council to promote good practice and encourage business and the community to be sustainable and this strategy outlines how the Council will do this. It assesses the challenges that face us, sets targets and explains the action we will take to achieve these.
However, the successful implementation of these actions will also require the participation of other organisations and everyone in the community; we should work together to safeguard our environment now, and for future generations.
Councillor John Lee
Portfolio Holder – Environment
Deputy Leader of North Norfolk District Council
1

Foreword.................................................................................................................
Contents ...............................................................................................................2
Introduction ...........................................................................................................3
NNDCs Environmental Policy ...............................................................................3
Rationale...............................................................................................................4
Key achievements to date.....................................................................................4
Key challenges .....................................................................................................6
Mitigating and adapting to climate change.....................................................6
Protecting and enhancing the natural environment........................................6
Reducing consumption of water, energy and materials and minimising waste
.......................................................................................................................7
Engaging and enthusing our residents ..........................................................8
Targets..................................................................................................................9
Mitigating and adapting to climate change.....................................................9
Protecting and enhancing the natural environment........................................9
Reducing consumption of water energy, materials and minimising waste .....9
Engaging and enthusing our officer, residents and businesses .....................9
Reporting ............................................................................................................10
Action Plan..........................................................................................................12
Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change.................................................12
Protect and Enhance the Natural Environment............................................13
Reduce consumption of water, energy materials and minimise waste.........13
Engage and enthuse our officers and residents...........................................14
2

The Environmental Sustainability Strategy explains the challenges we face in safeguarding North Norfolk’s local environment, whilst demonstrating how local action is vitally important to successfully addressing global environmental issues such as resource over-use and climate change. North Norfolk District Council is uniquely placed to provide the vision and leadership to local communities and businesses, to raise awareness and change behaviour to address these important issues.
The Council will consider its own actions as well as those of businesses, residents and other organisations in the district. The Council is committed to making continual, measurable progress in its environmental performance, to reduce its own environmental impact and to improve the district’s environment.
North Norfolk District Council recognises that its operations have an impact on the environment and is committed to minimising its adverse environmental impacts through taking action in a number of key areas. We will:
1. Embed sustainable procurement principles in all council procurement decisions.
2. Reduce the use of energy and resources, and therefore CO
2
emissions, from council operations and the district as a whole.
3. Reduce the council’s CO
2
emissions generated through business mileage, and encourage initiatives to reduce car travel in the District.
4. Provide information and support to our residents and businesses in order to enable them to reduce their own environmental impact.
5. Protect and enhance the bio and geo diversity of the district.
6. Ensure we have considered and planned for the future impacts of climate change.
7. Comply with all relevant environmental legislation.
The Council will encourage and enable all its employees to do what they can to translate this policy into practice. We want to set a good example to other organisations and to our residents. The Council will integrate this care for the environment into all areas of Council activity and into all policies, strategies and decisions. The Council will achieve these commitments through implementation of the actions contained in the Environmental Sustainability Strategy.
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The current need for the Council to make significant savings from its revenue budget is the main rationale for reducing energy and resource use. Our Carbon
Management plan shows how if we meet our 33% CO
2
reduction target we could keep energy costs in 2014 similar to what they were in 2008/9, despite expected price rises of 5% per annum.
In the Council’s Corporate Plan 2011 – 2015 one of the priorities is ‘to reform the organisation to deliver high quality services that achieve our priorities in an efficient manner that represents good value for local taxpayers’. The savings outlined above from our Carbon Management Plan will contribute to this priority.
Another priority is ‘to enable the provision of new homes and the infrastructure that goes with them’. The Sustainability Team provide advice to developers of new homes in the district on how to comply with Core Strategy Policy EN6
Sustainable Construction and Energy Efficiency.
On 9 March 2011 Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate
Change, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Local
Government Group that recognises the pivotal role that local councils have in tackling climate change. The MOU
1 outlines how DECC and the LG Group want to work together to help councils reduce greenhouse gas emissions:
•
on their own estate and operations;
•
in their areas within local council control and influence; and
•
through participating in national carbon reduction initiatives such as the
Green Deal and renewable energy deployment.
A recent citizen’s panel survey
2
in Norfolk contained questions regarding climate change in order to identify Norfolk residents’ attitude and behaviour in relation to sustainable living and climate change. Many of the responses indicate high levels of support and awareness relating to these issues, including an understanding of the actions required to not cause long term damage to the environment.
The New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership has identified renewable energy as a priority area for business growth, and has recently been awarded Green
Economy Pathfinder status. This means New Anglia will be national leader on promoting, showcasing and recommending green business development to government and businesses across the whole UK.
2
1
available at http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/lc_uk/local/local.aspx
http://www.norfolkcitizenspanel.org/
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•
We have reduced our CO
2
emissions by 3% since 2008/9. This is equivalent to a reduction in consumption of 214,500 kWh of energy and
12,548 litres of diesel.
•
We participated in the Carbon Trust’s Local Authority Carbon
Management Programme in 2009-10, and our Carbon Management Plan was commended as an example of best practice by the Carbon Trust.
•
We have one of the highest environmental requirements for new development in the County though Policy EN6 of our Core Strategy, and have recommended suitable conditions on over 750 relevant planning applications.
•
We have written chapter 11 of the North Norfolk Design Guide
Supplementary Planning Document in order to provide advice to developers on how to comply with EN6.
•
We organised and hosted training events for planning agents on the Code for Sustainable Homes and Sustainable Drainage Schemes.
•
We organise the annual Green Build event to educate and inspire our residents on how to lead a greener lifestyle.
•
We launched NNDC’s Allotments Position Statement at an event for Town and Parish Councils in July 2010.
•
We held an event regarding funding available for community environmental projects in spring 2011.
•
We have successfully implemented a Green Travel Plan at our Cromer office which has led to a 10% reduction in single car journeys to work and increased cycling by 6%.
•
We have introduced a mileage rate for car sharing and cycling.
•
The DECC ‘Local Authority Carbon Dioxide Figures’ show a drop in CO
2 emissions per capita in North Norfolk from 7.6 tonnes in 2005 to 6.6 tonnes in 2009.
•
All committee reports must consider sustainability issues and guidance has been written to assist officers.
•
A Sustainable Procurement Policy and guidelines have been produced.
•
The waste contract re-tender in 2011 comprised sustainability criteria with a weighting of 10%.
•
A ‘State of the Environment report’ was produced by the Norfolk Biological
Records Centre for North Norfolk District in 2011.
•
We made a major contribution to the production of a Travel Plan for North
Walsham Station, the first one to be produced nationally for a station on a
Community Rail line.
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This is likely to be the most significant long term challenge facing the District.
The ‘natural greenhouse effect’ keeps the earth much warmer than it would otherwise be, with gases such as carbon dioxide (CO
2
), methane and water vapour acting like a blanket trapping heat inside the atmosphere. This natural greenhouse effect is essential in sustaining life on earth. However, global emissions of these so called greenhouse gases have grown markedly due to human activities, with an increase of 70% between 1970 and 2004 alone
(including an 80% increase in emissions of CO
2
, the main contributor)
3
. This increase in the proportion of greenhouse gases such as CO
2
and methane prevents more radiative heat escaping from the atmosphere, which will cause changes to global climate patterns, including an overall global warming.
The challenge is to not only reduce these greenhouse gas emissions from the
District that are contributing to the problem, but to adapt to the climatic changes that are likely to occur in the future. The implications for the climate of North
Norfolk can be summarised as:
•
Hotter
•
Warmer
•
More extreme weather and rainfall events
•
Rising sea levels
As a low-lying area with a soft coastline and a growing and older population, the
District is therefore particularly vulnerable. The likely consequences of the changing climate such as increased coastal erosion, increased flooding, and water shortages will have serious implications for residents in the future.
In 2000 Councillor John Sweeney signed the Nottingham Declaration on Climate
Change on behalf of North Norfolk District Council, which signals that the Council acknowledges that climate change is occurring and commits to taking action to mitigate the causes of climate change.
North Norfolk is changing; the number of households in the District is increasing and the planned future growth in the District of at least 8,000 new dwellings between 2001 and 2021 will see many of the market towns and villages experiencing significant growth. This increase in growth puts pressure on scarce
3
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007 http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml
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resources such as land and water and can threaten biodiversity. The
Conservation Design and Landscape team at the Council advise planning officers on how to avoid or mitigate this loss to ensure there is no net loss of biodiversity in the district. The Council has a statutory responsibility to ensure nationally and internationally designated wildlife sites and protected species are not damaged as a result of development control decisions.
North Norfolk is fortunate to contain a wide diversity of important habitats; from the saltmarshes, sand dunes and soft cliffs of the coast, to the heaths of the Holt-
Cromer ridge, plateau woodlands and the gateway to the Norfolk Broads in the
East. The District contains many nationally and internationally important wildlife sites, ancient woodlands, county wildlife sites and local nature reserves. The
Council’s Annual Monitoring Report
4
provides information on the condition of the national and international sites in the District.
The Council owns and manages a number of sites including Holt Country Park,
Beeston Cliffs SSSI, Sadler's Wood, Spa Common Folly, Pretty Corner Woods,
Links Wood, Warren Wood and Burnt Hills Wood. Management plans exist for all these sites and the sites are managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services section. Management of these assets to the highest possible standard is an action contained in the Council’s Corporate Plan 2011-2015.
In 2011 the Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service produced a State of the
Environment report for the district. It aims to capture key information regarding the natural environment in the district, from designated sites and their condition to individual species records, and provides a useful benchmark.
Our demand and use of natural resources is high; if the whole world were to use resources at the same rate as our residents then three planet earths would be needed to sustain the existing global population. This is clearly not sustainable and in order to address this it will require us to all make significant changes to the way we live and work. The new development outlined above will result in additional pressures, particularly on water resources. The Sustainability team advise planning officers on how to ensure that new development minimises its use of energy and resources in accordance with Core Strategy Policy EN6.
Whilst the settlements selected for development through the Council’s planning policies have been done so in order to help reduce reliance on use of the private car, a lack of public transport in many areas of the District means that road transport is likely to remain the principal means of travel.
4 http://www.northnorfolk.org/ldf/1276.asp
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Purchasing decisions can also have a profound effect on the environment.
Manufacture and transportation of products uses valuable resources and pollutes our land, air and water. Goods consume energy and water during their manufacture and many consume further energy and water when in use. The goods themselves, their by-products and their packaging eventually have to be disposed of as waste.
With the exception of a few individuals and communities, many people see climate change as an issue with no connection to their immediate concerns.
Humans are hard-wired to overvalue immediate gains or sacrifices and underestimate future benefits and there is a risk that the new localism agenda will not automatically benefit our long-term interests. However climate change will affect all of civil society; it has the potential to slow progress on addressing poverty, increase inequalities and affect our ability to meet the needs of vulnerable people.
By encouraging greater awareness of climate change and sustainability through information provision and education we can help to encourage employees, residents, business, civil / community groups and visitors to change their behaviour in order to reduce their environmental impact. By making everyone aware and encouraging people to do their bit we hope to create ambassadors of climate change and supporters of the environment within the local community and demonstrate why it is important for everyone to play their part in promoting a more sustainable way of living.
The Council has held the annual Green Build event since 2004. The aim of the event is to provide information and advice to the District’s residents and visitors on how to reduce the environmental impact of their lifestyles, and to promote sustainable construction. Following on from the 2011 event Fulmodeston Parish
Council approached the Council asking for support for an energy day they wanted to run, following the identification of energy as a priority in their Parish
Plan.
The annual NNDC Environment Awards aim to reward community based projects which have done the most to preserve and enhance the District's precious environment and has received a high number of entries over the last 16 years it has been running.
8

The Council aims to reduce its CO
2
emissions by 33% by 2014 from a 2008/9 baseline. This should help ensure energy costs are no more in 2014 than in
2008/9, despite annual price rises.
Review the Council’s Carbon Management Plan in 2012.
Promote the use of sustainable transport options in the district, especially the
Bittern Community Rail Line.
Report our annual CO
2
emission figures according to the required national methodology by the required deadline.
Ensure all new developments do not damage the District’s biodiversity, and where possible enhance it.
Continue to support the Norfolk Biological Records Centre to ensure sufficient biodiversity information is available to make informed planning decisions.
Ensure all the sites NNDC directly manage are in a favourable condition for wildlife.
Continue to implement NNDCs Sustainable Procurement Policy.
Ensure that all new development in the District meets high environmental standards through Core Strategy policy EN6.
Conduct at least 250 household energy advice visits per annum through the ‘Stay
Warm and Cosy’ initiative.
9

Hold an annual Green Build event to inform and inspire residents.
Reward examples of environmental excellent in the District by annually awarding the John Sweeney Award for Environmental Achievement.
Attend parish / community / business events where requested, with the aim of at least 4 a year.
Provide comprehensive information and advice to our residents via our website and through the joint Climate Change Task Force website and County-wide communications campaign.
Make Sustainability e-training available for all Council staff.
The Council is able to play a leading role in the protection and enhancement of the environment through its various functions as;
•
An estate manager (both buildings and land)
•
A service provider
•
As the Local Planning Authority
•
A regulator and enforcement body
•
A purchaser of goods and services
•
A community leader and advocate
•
A partner with other public and private bodies
•
A
To support the principles of the MOU between DECC and the Local Government
Group, Greg Barker has request that local councils measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions from their own estate and operations in accordance the with the joint DECC-Defra guidance that was published in September 2009 by the end of July each year. This is one of the requirements on the single data list
5
, which is a catalogue of all the datasets that local government must submit to central government in a given year.
We will monitor the progress of our district wide initiatives through the annual
DECC ‘Local Authority Carbon Dioxide Figures’.
Environmental Sustainability Board guides the direction and work of the
Sustainability Team and is comprised of:
•
Strategic Director – Environment
5 http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/decentralisation/tacklingburdens/singledatalist/
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•
Portfolio
•
•
•
Member Opposition
Sustainability
Assistant
Terms of Reference for the group and past agendas and minutes are available on the intranet.
Biannual reports on the direction and work of the Sustainability Team are taken to Overview and Scrutiny Committee, usually in July and January.
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Key Action
Sign the new Nottingham
Declaration on Climate
Change
Implement projects in
Carbon Management
Plan, and review plan in
2012
Continue to promote
Sustainable Travel choices to staff as per the
Green Travel Plan
Encourage the installation of renewable energy by businesses, organisations and householders through promotional events, support and advice
Monitor uptake of renewable energy in
District
Respond to planning consultations on
Renewable Energy installations
Investigate installation of renewable technologies on Council buildings
Promote use of the
Bittern Line through projects in the Bittern
Line Working group business plan and though
Community Rail Norfolk:
•
Low
•
Stations
Walsham
Station Travel
Plan
Replacement CHP at
Service responsible
Portfolio holder
Sustainability Team, ICT,
Leisure and Cultural
Services, Property
Services
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team,
Delivery dates
Spring 2012
As in CMP
Review CMP in response to building condition surveys
On-going
On-going
Quarterly
On-going
After outcome of FIT consultation is known – likely late spring 2012
On-going
As part of response to
12

Splash leisure centre Leisure and Cultural
Services Manager, DC
Leisure building surveys
Key Action
Provide advice to DC to ensure no net loss of
Biodiversity as a result of development in the
District
Promote allotments and provide advice to Town and Parish Councils
Service responsible
Conservation, Design and Landscape
Sustainability Team
Delivery dates
On-going
When required
Key Action
Promote the Green Deal
Give planning advice:
•
Pre with developers
•
Development
Control consultations
Monitor compliance with
EN6 via completion data from Building Control
Provide advice and support the implementation of
Sustainable Procurement
Policy
Monitor water use at all
Council sites
Promote sustainable consumer choices and opportunities for the sale of locally produced food in the district.
Increase awareness of
Service responsible
Sustainability Team and
Strategic Housing Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Delivery dates
Ongoing throughout 2012 as details emerge
Ongoing
Monthly
When required
2012 onwards
Ongoing
Ongoing
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water saving measures and promote water saving methods and water efficient appliances.
Collect and report the
Council’s greenhouse gas emissions
Sustainability Team Annually
Key Action
Hold the Green Build event
Hold John Sweeney
Award for Environmental
Excellence
Provide up to date information on Council website
Undertake at least 250 home visits through the
‘Stay Warm and Cosy’ initiative
Attend at least 4 parish / community / business events where requested
Run staff energy saving campaign and link into national events e.g. energy saving week
Continue membership of the Norfolk Climate
Change task force and contribute to the development of the
Norfolk Climate Change
Partnership website and
County-wide communications campaign
Work with energy companies to deliver discounted home insulation for residents
Service responsible
Environmental Health
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team and
Strategic Housing Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Sustainability Team
Delivery dates
September annually
Annually
Review monthly
Strategic Housing Team Ongoing
Ongoing
Biannual energy walk arounds
Website delivered by end of March 2012
Ongoing
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