Partners working together to build a better Rutland
ENVIRONMENT THEME GROUP
MINUTES
Wednesday 14th September 2011, 16.30 in the Council Chamber
1. Introduction and Apologies for Absence
Those present introduced themselves:
Cliff Bacon
Chair
Adam Glassford
Environment Agency
Cllr Ed Baines
Rutland Water Partnership
Derek Bilby
Oakham in Bloom
Gabrielle Maughan
Friends of the Earth
Isabel Clark
Climate Change, RCC
Jonathan Ward
Change Agents UK
Helen Wilson
Planning Policy (Guest)
David Troy
Planning Policy (Guest)
Katy Lynch
Partnership Support Officer
CB
AG
EB
DB
GM
IC
JW
HW
DT
KL
Apologies for absence were received from Eileen Ray.
2. Minutes of the Meeting held July 2011
2.1 The minutes of the last meeting were accepted as a true record.
3. Matters Arising
3.1 AG provided partners with an overview of his role within the Environment
Agency:
 Pollution incidents and waste
 Water quality of rivers
 Regulate parts of farms
 Flooding
 Habitats
AG covers South Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire.
3.2 Terms of Reference for this group have now been revised, partners were
circulated a revised version. It was noted that:
 DB will be covering both Oakham and Uppingham in Bloom at these
meetings; KL to amend the TOR to state “Rutland in Bloom – Oakham
and Uppingham”
 Transition Rutland to be added to the membership list
3.3 DB announced that Oakham in Bloom won its 7th gold certificate in the town
category; Uppingham also came 1st in the small towns’ category. Oakham is
also in the national awards, the outcome of this is due on 25th September.
3.4 IC confirmed that there is no longer schools grants from the local authority
therefore it is up to schools to decide within their budget if they wish to invest
in environmental projects.
KL
KL
4. Local Area Agreement Bid Update, Next Steps
4.1 The following environment group bids were successful:
 Habitat Restoration
£10,000 allocation to be shared between these
 Sustainable Schools Project
projects
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Partners working together to build a better Rutland
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
 Rural Efficiency
£25,000 allocation
 Fuel Poverty Hub (educating people within the community)
for a dual project
CB thanked partners for their participation in the application process.
JW outlined the brief plan regarding the Rural Efficiency project; it was
proposed that this be incorporated into the Fuel Poverty Hub project which will
aim to target older houses, rural houses and farms, phases of the project will
include:
 Targeted intervention
 Awareness raising
 Physical resources
 Working with parish councils
 Identify where work is needed
 Recommend home owners where the green deal can assist
It is anticipated that 400 houses are helped through increased knowledge and
identifying measures to use energy for efficiently e.g. loft insulation.
JW
JW to get in contact with Sue Renton (Rural Community Council & Rutland
First Contact Scheme) to make Sue aware of the service.
CB
CB to ensure that a few words on the Rural Efficiency Project be included at
the next Parish Council Forum on 17th October.
CB
CB and KL to develop a project plan template for project leads to complete,
leads are to complete the template with full project details so that environment KL
IC
partners can better understand the detail of each of the projects. Plan on a
JW
page style plans are then to be circulated to environment partners to ensure
that partners are happy with the project detail before it goes ahead. Could
draft plans, using the template report format, please be sent electronically to
the Secretary for further discussion by end of October.
5. Site Allocations & Policies DPD – Issues and Options
5.1
HW and DT were in attendance to advise partners on the next stage in the
LDF process (Issues and Options).
5.2
RCC is seeking views from this group on the following issues:
 Development in the countryside
 Historic and cultural environment
 Important open spaces and frontages
 Green infrastructure and open space standards
 The natural environment
 Eyebrook Reservoir
 Waste Development/Waste Management
 Rutland Water policy area and five designated recreation areas
around the water
 Design and amenity
 Renewable and Low Carbon Energy
Public consultation on the Site Allocations and Policies document is taking
5.3
place from 8th September to 30th November 2011.
Responses to the document will be assessed before preparing the next
5.4
“Preferred Options” version of the document which will identify the preferred
site allocations and include draft policies. This will be subject to public
consultation in April/May 2012.
5.5
Partners were invited to comment:
 Typology and proposed standards relates to what provision is
required per 1000 population e.g. for every 1000 houses there must
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Partners working together to build a better Rutland
5.6
be 0.4 hectares of land provided for Parks, Gardens and Amenity
Green Space. This criteria would apply to new development
 The Rutland Water Partnership is keen to preserve Rutland Water;
how flexible will the policy be on individual cases, do we need to be
more specific?
 JW provided some in depth questions on specific matters, the chair
recommended that JW speak directly with the planning policy on the JW
question he raised, e.g. how does the LDF take into account the
localism bill and how will this work with neighbourhood plans and the
Merton rule looks at a minimum number of renewable energy sites, is
Rutland looking for more sites.
 CB raised concern that the Jeakins Weir site has been allowed on
appeal, even though it was not apparently in accordance with the
recently adopted Core Strategy DPD. This successful appeal has
caused much controversy after initially being refused by Rutland
County Council Planning Authority DT noted that RCC assessed the
appeal decision at length and it was decided that this was not
challengeable. CB asked if we could have further written information
on what lessons can be learned and what can be done to restore the
credibility of the Core Strategy DPD.
It was noted that the site allocations and policies DPD will identify on the
proposals maps any designated sites of importance for biodiversity and
geodiversity; DT and his team to look at what records are held on the DT
Leicestershire Database. CB expressed concern that the Site Allocations
Issues and Options document was still in very early stages of definition, and
was asking questions as to whether further, more detailed policies are
required (e.g. concerning green energy) which had already been stated as
necessary in the Core Strategy DPD (e.g. in para 5.10 ) CB said that it was
his understanding that the new emerging Localism Bill would lead to a more
relaxed permissive development regime with more emphasis on a
presumption in favour of all development in the countryside, particularly
housing and green energy development. Unless Local Policies including site
allocations were established very soon in these areas, then future, more
relaxed national policies would take precedence, to the detriment of
Rutland’s countryside and villages. CB asked how RCC were proposing to
ensure that the Local Planning Policy Framework including site allocations
was established in sufficient detail, and early enough, to prevent the
emerging localism bill taking precedence.
6. Renewable Energy Policy
6.1 A briefing paper was circulated in advance of the meeting outlining the local
authority’s renewable energy policy as it stands.
6.2 GM queried the decision making process behind some planning requirements,
for example PV power at Lyndon Visitor Centre is yet to be approved as a bat
survey is now required; this has caused significant delay as assistance from
Leicestershire Ecology Team has been sought. It was noted whether there
DT
was anything that could be done to speed up the planning application process
from the outset; DT to relay this back to the council.
6.3 It was noted that references to “Local Carbon Energy” in paper C covers all
energy projects including electricity.
6.4 The current core strategy does not include intricate details about energy
efficiency; stakeholders’ views are being sought through current consultation as JW
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Partners working together to build a better Rutland
to whether more detailed information is required. It was suggested that JW feed
back to the planning policy team with any information he feels could be
expanded on within the document, e.g. anaerobic digestion, bio fuel production
and fuel poverty.
7. SCoRE – Schools Collaboration on Resource Efficiency Update
7.1 The SCoRE project is happening regionally, this is one of the last RIEP
projects being funded.
7.2 It is being launched over the next couple of weeks.
7.3 The project will include:
 quick energy saving projects that schools can undertake
 school staff will receive training on how they can make energy savings
 Resource packs for teachers to use in lessons and assemblies
7.4 IC to feedback the results of the SCoRE project after Christmas.
7.5 The LSP has approved £10,000 revenue funding to go towards the schools
projects and habitat restoration. It was noted that the funding for schools will
link in well to the SCoRE project. IC and Craig Howat to complete a plan on a
page around how these projects will be delivered and evaluated.
7.6 IC and Craig Howat will work with primary schools to choose suitable projects.
7.7 It was noted that the habitat restoration project and the sustainable schools
project are separate projects but it is for the environment group to decide how
the £10,000 will be split between the two.
IC
IC
8. National Consultation on Nottingham Declaration Revision
8.1 RCC is currently a signatory of the Nottingham Declaration.
8.2 With the removal of many National Indicators, the Nottingham Declaration is
being revised to encourage councils to develop their own local targets. Local
Authorities are currently being consulted on this.
8.3 IC will share a revised proposal with this group once it is available.
8.4 Part of the revision will look at potentially extending the Nottingham Declaration
for any organisation to sign up to.
IC
Item 9 on the agenda was discussed under item 7.
10. Any Other Business
10.1 Friends of the Earth are running a poetry competition; GM shared a flyer with
partners detailing the competition. The deadline for entries is June 2012.
Partners to spread the word. IC to circulate the flyers across local schools.
10.2 Transition Rutland will be at Rutland Day this weekend alongside the Rural
Community Council.
10.3 Anglian Water is running a Love Every Drop campaign; this is about helping
people understand the realities of water use and climate change across the
region, more information is available on the Anglian Water website.
All
IC
11. Date of Next Meeting
11.1 Wednesday 7th December 2011, 5pm in the Council Chamber
11.2 Partners were asked to ensure that there was not a date in their diary for 14th
December.
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Partners working together to build a better Rutland
2012 meeting dates:
Wednesday 1st February 2012, 4.30pm in Martinsley
Wednesday 4th April 2012, 4.30pm in the Council Chamber
Wednesday 6th June 2012, 4.30pm in the Council Chamber
Wednesday 5th September 2012, 4.30pm in the Council Chamber
Wednesday 7th November 2012, 4.30pm in the Council Chamber
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