Agenda item

The Council welcomes engagement from members of the public. To speak at this meeting please register no later than 24 hours prior to the date of the meeting via democracy@southkesteven.gov.uk

Deanna Donovan – statement in relation to agenda item 8

The stated purpose of the Strategy is to “provide a framework for action for South Kesteven to reduce carbon emissions and safely adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change”. With the vision of the Strategy largely focused on carbon management and decarbonization, its ambition for adaptation seems to remain just that.  While the words ‘adapt’ and ‘adaptation’ are repeated numerous times, they remain ill-defined and poorly delineated. Although the impacts of climate change are broadly set out, including implications, in Appendix A, what is proposed to encourage and ensure “adaptation to climate change is embedded” is unclear. This Strategy fails to address the issue of building communities resistant to climate change impacts and resilient to the disruption that is undeniably and inevitably coming.

The proposed Strategy lacks the specificity to convince our citizens that adaptation is understood and that specific actions will be taken to enhance the resistance and resilience of our communities and economy to the pernicious impacts of climate change. Action within the specific focus areas outlined the Strategy seems fixated on decarbonization, ----yes, necessary but insufficient--- to build the required resilience. If you truly believe there is a Climate Emergency, then the priority should be the review and revision of SKDC policies, plans and programmes across the board, not only to incorporate but prioritize mitigation and adaptation objectives.

You acknowledge the need to better understand the impacts of climate change on residents, businesses and other partners but so far, and despite past promises, you have failed to conduct the risk assessment and thorough analysis that would allow the appropriate authorities to prioritize specific subject or geographic areas for action. We know the broad scale of risks facing Britain, even England, but what of our corner of England? Within this county, and this district, what are the specific threats that endanger our communities? And where do the response responsibilities lie when climate chaos occurs? We should not have to wait until disaster is on the doorstep before we begin to plan our preparedness.

As important as decarbonization is for all of us, you must recognize that the effect of your actions will have virtually no impact on the trajectory of environmental change as currently forecast. Given that the impacts of climate change are materializing faster than most climate scientists have projected, we no longer have the luxury of decades to prepare. If you truly want to minimize the loss, the suffering and the economic setbacks, you need to act now. The decarbonization and emissions reduction that you have set in motion over the past several years should be well on the way. Now you need to come up to speed with your ambition for adaptation.  The most urgent need is for a thorough and professional risk assessment which should enable all to focus minds, engage collaborators and unlock greater efficiencies.

Climate change is a systemic risk requiring coordinated action, which you duly recognize. We all need to know what to expect in terms of physical risk, both chronic and acute, as well as transitional risk, which cumulatively will affect social, economic and financial conditions. Such analysis should inform and focus funding on future-proofing essential services and supply chains, key to resilient societies. The economic impacts of climate change will only accelerate and accumulate over time. Accordingly, I urge you to consider again what your goals should be for the coming year and to proceed more directly with addressing the issue of adaptation.

The Cabinet Member for Waste Services and Climate Change responded to the statement:

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to provide comment and feedback on South Kesteven’s Climate Action Strategy. The document is broad reaching and aims to cover a number of issues and considerations across the board regarding climate change, and in particular how we can respond using our powers as a district council.

We are pleased to hear feedback that the document provides a lot of useful information around climate change and carbon emissions – it can be a tricky area to communicate with an adequate level of detail to inform decision making.

The scope of the document, set out in the Executive Summary, sets out that the Climate Action Strategy will consider key aspects of climate change, including both carbon reduction and to adaptation to living in a warmer world.

To date, over three-quarters of local authorities in the UK have declared a climate emergency and recognised the need to act in unison to help to meet the UK government’s targets to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. South Kesteven cannot act alone and it is important to work in partnership on both climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The proposed next steps are to develop a following Climate Action Strategy – this is intended to set out specific focuses and streams of work for South Kesteven District Council to focus on to deliver on the broad remit set out in the document, across eight of the Policy Areas identified.

It is intended that workstreams on adaptation to climate change are taken forward through our Climate Action Plan, alongside projects which focus on opportunities to reduce carbon emissions. I look forward to being able to provide an update on the Climate Action Plan to the Council as projects develop.

Deanna Donovan – statement in relation to agenda item 9

I was pleased to see that you are forging ahead on the development of a Tree Strategy for South Kesteven. I must admit, however, that I was a bit disappointed in the narrow focus and lack of vision of this document. While the Tree Strategy as submitted aims to address climate change mitigation through carbon reduction, specifically carbon sequestration, it is weak on the potential contribution of  tree planting to climate change adaptation. Although noting the many possible benefits of trees, it is doubtful that these potentials will be realized without more ambition and planning.

With regard to many of the potential benefits of trees, tree planting alone is not likely to deliver immediate benefits of any sort, unless one is planting very large trees, expensive both in and of themselves and in their installation. A more diverse, integrated planting is likely to offer benefits sooner,  in terms of biodiversity as well as water absorption and soil development. Moreover, the benefits will be multiplied if planting is not limited to just any unoccupied ground available, but part of a coherent plan designed to capitalize on existing vegetation, enhancing its effect as well as facilitating the movement of biodiversity through the landscape, among other things.

Tree planting should be integrated in an overall strategy to enhance connectivity, a concept totally missing from this document. Plants, animals and insects are already seen to be migrating poleward and to higher elevations in an attempt to adapt to a changing climate. In these attempts to save themselves and their species, they are hampered by among other things, urban settlement, industrial estates and open farmland, lacking the vegetative corridors that would permit them to move through these areas easily.

It should be noted as well that the enhanced biodiversity sought in this scheme should be not just in the tree species planted, but in the cultivars and provenances selected for any species. Climate change will very likely make the local environment inhospitable to traditional provenances of many local tree species. With this awareness we should be future-proofing any tree planting with provenances known to be resistant to the changing climate as well as the pests and diseases of these southern relatives.

Again to maximize the benefits from the proposed strategy, tree planting should be integrated into wider multilayered vegetation scheme designed to provide a variety of social, economic and environmental benefits, including climate change mitigation and adaptation, such as strategic shading, biodiversity corridors and run-off absorption. One would hope that the additional expertise that you may secure (cf. sec 2.15-2.17) to assist with the development of this programme would understand the ecological concepts outlined above and assist the Council in lifting its ambitions to ensure that it delivers the full potential of benefits that a tree planting programme could and should provide.

The Cabinet Member for Waste Services and Climate Change responded to the statement:

The report provided to the Committee sets out the context of tree planting and the Council’s intentions to develop a fuller Tree Strategy, to help deliver on some of the strategic ambitions set out within the Climate Action Strategy. The main Tree Strategy is yet to be developed and the update provided indicates to Councillors some of the work being pursued in order to see this come to fruition.

Specifically, it is recognised that tree planting can have an important role in adaptation to a warmer climate, provided the right tree is planted in the right place. It is expected that this will be at the heart of the developed Tree Strategy document.

Vanessa Smith

Does the committee think it sensible that SKDC continue to approve planning for large, particularly residential, development on land which, as stated in its own report, may be flooded in just 27years time given the projected rise in sea level?

The Cabinet Member for Waste Services and Climate responded to the question submitted:

Information has been provided to the committee regarding projected flood risk, in support of the development of the Council’s Climate Action Strategy. The map provided depicts land projected to be below the annual flood level as of 2050, which includes the water level that could be reached through a combination of sea level rise, tides and storm surge. It is noted that the maps provided incorporate big datasets and should be regarded as screening tools to identify locations that may require a deeper investigation of risk.

Regarding allocation of specific sites, flood risk is fully considered when allocating sites for development in the Local Plan for future development and also approving planning applications for development including new houses.   The Environment Agency identifies flood risk zones based on the probability and the potential consequences of flooding.  Areas identified at risk of flooding are those at risk of flooding from any source either now or in the future.    This will include risks from a number of sources but does including those areas at risk from changing sea levels. 

Where a developer submits an application for planning permission, flood risk assessments are required to be submitted for the larger sites or where the site is identified as being in a flood risk assessment area. Flood Risk Assessments will need to consider all forms of flood risk, and this includes ground and surface water flooding as well as from coastal or rivers. The Council will consider these flood risk assessments and will also seek advice from consultees including the Environment Agency, the Drainage Boards and the Local Lead Flood Authority (Lincolnshire County Council). 

Where sites are identified as being at risk, there are clear planning policies to be followed which can include the carrying out of a sequential test. Flood Risk Assessments will need to consider risks, including the risk from a 1 in 100 year plus climate change event. For sites with the greatest risk of flooding, a sequential test would need to be carried out which is the most effective way of addressing flood risk because it seeks to avoid the risk.  All applications for planning permission will be assessed against National and Local Planning Policies, and where flood risk is an issue that cannot be avoided or mitigated then this will be reflected in the decision. 

Flood risk and water environment policies contained within the adopted Local Plan are being reviewed through the emerging Local Plan which will be informed by an updated Strategic Flood Risk Assessment and a new Water Cycle Study. The Environment Agency has advised on the scope of the studies.