Agenda item

Report of the Director – Neighbourhoods

The Communities Manager introduced the Carbon Management Action Plan Review report and provided an overview of how the Council measured emissions, including direct and indirect emissions and carbon offsetting, and how it recorded information to capture its progress towards becoming carbon neutral by 2030. He said that it was this information that was used to create the dashboard graphs and performance outputs presented to the Group.

The Team Manager for Environment presented information to the Group. He explained the difference between the measurements for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, the different generators of emissions that the Council produced, and the projects it was undertaking to bring those down, including at Cotgrave Leisure Centre, Sir Julian Cahn Pavilion and Gamston Community Hall. He thought that the Council’s recent transfer to using Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil to power its HGV vehicles would lead to a significant reduction in emissions, which would be captured in next year’s outputs.

The Team Manager for Environment said that the Council was continuing to work closely with Midlands Net Zero Hub to pull in and spend funding where it was needed most and was supporting parish councils with completing energy audits on any assets they had. He said that that Council also had close links with Rural Community Action Nottinghamshire and local businesses and that the Council was actively looking at regional collaborative bulk buying schemes, such as for solar schemes.

In relation to property and assets, the Team Manager for Environment provided an update about the status of ongoing Council projects, including potential land acquisition to meet the Council’s offset need to reach Net Zero by 2030, exploration of alternative models of delivery to install large net zero projects on Council Buildings, tree planting on existing Council land and an insulation project at Hound Lodge.

In relation to fleet and transport, the Team Manager for Environment confirmed that Electric Vehicle (EV) points were being installed at the Streetwise Depot, two EV Vans were in operation, Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil was operational, electric buggies were in use at Rushcliffe Country Park and an EV point had been installed at West Park for EV Vans.

In relation to contracts and procurement, the Team Manager for Environment confirmed that the Council considered the environmental and carbon impact for everything it purchased and that biodiversity net gain (BNG) software had been implemented to start mapping and surveying BNG over the next thirty years.

The Team Manager for Environment explained that the Council had overhauled its Climate Change Strategy and that its Ecology Team was proactively working with the Planning Team. He said that the Air Quality Strategy had been reviewed and that a number of areas had been downgraded due to a reduction in pollution recorded at those sites. He said that due to the success of work at Rushcliffe Country Park and it gaining Green Flag accreditation the Council was looking at how to expand that model to other sites.  

In relation to waste and recycling, the Team Manager for Environment said that glass kerbside collection was due to be implemented by the end of 2025 and that some communal glass recycling bring sites would remain open to help with the transition period. He confirmed that as of April 2026 recycling legislation would allow more items to be put into recycling bins and that the Council was looking at facilitating food waste collection in 2027.

In relation to business and the community, the Team Manager for Environment provided information about a number of successful schemes that the Council had undertaken, including a retrofit housing scheme, a Rural Action Nottinghamshire event, a Heating Upgrade Grant (HUG) scheme proving information about measures such as heat pumps, supporting local community energy groups and involvement in a Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) which would provide a 3D digital map of where energy was being used and wasted in the local area.

The Team Manager for Environment explained that a Carbon Sequestration Strategy had been agreed by Cabinet and that the Council was looking to purchase land for tree planting. He added that an appraisal of Council land had resulted in 500 trees being planted and that the Council was working with the Woodland Trust to ensure that it was making best use of its land.

Councillor Billin asked about HVO fuel and asked whether factors from its production were included in calculations and the Team Manager for Environment confirmed that they were and as such HVO was considered to be 90% carbon neutral.

Councillor Billin referred to a Council Motion about investigating solar canopies on carparks and the Team Manager for Environment replied that whilst these were an option and would continue to be considered, they required infrastructure to be built which had cost and that installation on roofs of existing buildings provided better value for money at the current time.

Councillor Billin asked about tree planting and carbon sequestration and the Senior Ecology and Sustainability Officer clarified that carbon measurement for trees was usually calculated over a 100 year period, that trees usually started sequestering from around year five, increasing up to around year thirty and then reduced after around fifty years. The Communities Manager confirmed that this had been factored into the Carbon Sequestration Strategy and said that the Council was exploring opportunities for circa 46 hectares of land within the Borough boundary, for tree planting and biodiversity and conservation measures.

Councillor Billin asked about data farms and cloud based storage and the Team Manager for Environment said that it was possible to procure green servers.

Councillor Fletcher asked about parish council energy audits and funding grants available and the Team Manager for Environment said that there were grants that could be applied for and where they required match funding this could be fulfilled by volunteer time. In relation to older buildings, he confirmed that there were internal interventions that could be done and that a building being listed did not necessarily mean that they couldn’t be implemented.

Councillor Fletcher asked about hydrogen fuel and the Head of Neighbourhoods thought that this was still some years away.

Members of the Group asked about air quality and the Communities Manager confirmed that whilst monitors had been removed due to improved air quality at those sites, the Council would continue to monitor air quality across the Borough and install monitoring in the future if required.

Councillor Plant referred to grants available for home insulation and noted that they were small and for low income households and asked how messaging could be shared with larger and higher income households who did not qualify. The Team Manager for Environment said that the D2N2 partnership was looking at turnkey ethical loan schemes and also suggested that having a retrofit report done could provide residents with confidence to proceed with measures and use of trusted traders.

Councillor Mallender referred to HVO and asked about future fuel sources and the Communities Manager confirmed that HVO was transitional and that the Council would continue to review future options as they became available.

The Chair asked about having an Officer pool car and the Communities Manager confirmed that the Council had an electric van which was used by Facilities staff to travel to Council sites across the Borough and that it continued to review options for having more electric vehicles for Officer use.

The Chair asked about communications and messaging to residents and the possibility of inviting Nottingham Energy Partnership (NEP) to have a stall at Rushcliffe events and the Team Manager for Environment replied that the Council was organising an event with the British Geological Survey in the near future which would be open to the public and he would contact NEP about what would be possible.

The Chair asked about capture of information from the various schemes taking place and the Team Manager for Environment said for example that work with schools and households was captured in the annual greenhouse gas information from DEFRA which would be captured within the 2050 targets.

Members of the Group asked about glass collection and the Head of Neighbourhoods clarified that the bins were the same height as the grey bins but were thinner and narrower. He said that it would be possible to opt out from having a bin but that the Council would actively encourage participation if a household had somewhere to store the bin as it did not need to be put out every 6 weeks and could be used to collect glass over a longer period of time.

Councillor Philips asked about the efficiency of the Arena building and upgrading of EV charging points on the site. The Team Manager for Environment said that there would be some impact from users of the building, but that the building had smart energy monitoring, so for example lights would turn off when a room was not in use, and that the Council was actively exploring grants and opportunities for further measures. In relation to EV points, he confirmed that they were well used and that the ones at the Arena were trickle charge but that the Council had rapid charge points at other sites, such as the Country Park. He said that when they were nearer their end of life the Council would review options for replacement.

It was RESOLVED that the Communities Scrutiny Group:

a)    considered the progress to date of the adopted carbon management action plan; and

b)    contributed towards the emerging carbon management actions for 2025/26.