Minutes

The Chairman, Councillor Jan Harwood, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

The minutes of the meeting held 11 February 2021 were confirmed as a correct record.

There had been a request from within the Council membership for the minutes of the Board to be published in the public domain and Chairman canvassed the Board members for their views. The Board was convened constitutionally as an Executive working group and all such groups met in private with Board papers circulated only to the Board itself and the Council membership. It was agreed that in general it would be appropriate for the minutes to be made public, however the Chairman recommended that since this was a voluntary action by the Board and was not legally required certain information that was agreed to be formative could be withheld at the discretion of the Board. Partial redaction of the minutes was also proposed as an option.

The Head of Asset Management (Climate Change Lead) informed the Board that the Net Zero Carbon Trajectory Report prepared by APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) has been received recently and had been reviewed by the Corporate Management Team. The report would be circulated to Board members with an agenda item for general discussion scheduled for the next meeting.

The Climate Change Officer delivered a presentation based upon the report’s findings setting out the Council’s footprint for the period 2019-20, the decarbonisation priority areas and offsetting. The 2019-20 net emissions figure was 8568tCO2, with the gross figure of 8613tCO2. The Council’s gross emissions were broken down into three sections for reporting – Scope 1 (gas and fuel use:60%), Scope 2 (imported electricity:31%) and Scope 3 (indirect emissions:9%). The Council’s gross emissions could be reduced by including exported electricity when accounting to produce a net emissions figure. The source of these offsets are the Council’s eight solar energy panel installations and the Wey River hydro installation. Albeit the hydro installation had not be in commission for much of the year and the offset from that source was expected to be greater in future.

There was a very slight uplift (2%)in emissions on the previous year’s (2018-19) data. But the long term trend was a significant reduction in emissions of 45% from the baseline year of 2008-09. This reduction was significantly influenced by a reduction in electricity due to the installation of LED lighting and the decarbonisation of the National Grid.

There was a notable increase in the total energy consumption by the Council compared to the previous year, electricity by 10% and Gas by 7%. The uplift in gas consumption was as a result of an increase in the number of cold days leading to a larger heating demand, however the reason for the electricity uplift is not fully understood at this point. The presentation continued to look at ways in which energy demand could be reduced by undertaking energy audits and feasibility studies looking at site specific interventions such as the installation of new energy efficient kit such as heat pumps, building management controls, insulation and/or changes in maintenance practices. A pool cover for the Lido to retain heat and reduce its demand was given as an example of what was being looked at currently. It was noted that there the intended feasibility studies would help identify the costs and carbon savings, and so identifying the most effective interventions.

To progress towards net zero the Council should aim to utilise the energy it generated through the photo voltaic and hydro installations (private wire) which would be 100% renewable as well as exporting back to the grid where possible. The report included a supposition that the Council might seek to generate a further 500kWp through on-site renewables which would be consumed on-site. This capacity was not currently scoped and consideration would need to be given to whether this would prove feasible. Alongside rational interventions to reduce demand, a development of this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

The Climate Change Officer provided an update.

A new energy management framework was in the process of being introduced. This would enable consumption to be more accurately monitored and emissions reporting to be quicker and more accurate. There would be a further update at the next meeting.

The Board heard that new solar panels had been installed on the Farnham Road Multi-Storey Car Park and also at Millmead House Complex, and that these were recently operational and generating electricity back into the grid.

The first of a series of electric minibuses had been delivered and was operational.

The Chairman reported that he had met with Professor Miller along with former Guildford Borough Councillors Gordon Jackson, Caroline Reeves and Nikki Nelson-Smith. Funding had been sourced in principle to establish a forum for the benefit of local businesses and residents to establish a knowledge base for good practice and shared ideas. More information would be delivered to the Board in due course.

It was hoped that further engagement with residents would be progressed through the Climate Emergency Centre in Guildford which was currently being developed by Zero Carbon Guildford. The Chairman would be providing further information regarding the ‘living lab’ project being progressed with UNIS. This project would develop ways in which residents can reduce carbon emissions. Councillor Young informed the Board that there was much interest in West Horsley in contributing to such engagement projects.

The date of the next meeting would be Thursday 10 June at 11am.

Any queries arising from the circulation of the Net Zero Carbon Trajectory Report should be directed to the Climate Change Officer, Paul Taylor-Armstrong.

The role of the Council as a leader for the community in terms of tackling Climate Change was an emerging picture and further distillation of this role would be discussed in the agenda of the Board going forward.