Truro & Kenwyn Neighbourhood Plan
Meeting of the Environment and Climate Change Working Group
Tuesday 21st February 2012
at 6.00 pm in the Municipal Buildings, Truro
Minutes
ATTENDEES:Councillor Lindsay Southcombe – Truro City Council(Chairman)
Councillor William Robinson – Kenwyn Parish Council
Rob Lacey – Cornwall Council
Hilary Gooch, Cornwall Council
Roger Gazzard – Truro City Council
Robin Sellwood – Transition Truro
Margaret Sellwood– Transition Truro
Cheryl Marriott – Cornwall Wildlife Trust
1. APOLOGIES:Apologies for absence were received on behalf ofCouncillor Tinney, Kenwyn Parish Council, and Rob Pickering, Community Energy Plus.
Item / Action2 / Minutes
The minutes of the meeting held on 31stJanuary2012 were approved as a correct record.
Robin Sellwood enquired, further to pg. 3 of the minutes, if a decision should be reached regarding hiring a consultant to conduct the Sustainability Appraisal for the Neighbourhood Plan. Rob Lacey responded it wouldn’t usually be something Cornwall Council would commission, however it would be a large task to expect the working group to complete a Sustainability Appraisal and a Habitats Regulations Assessment, and as such, suggested speaking to Marcus Wood, a town planner from Parsons Brinckerhoff who may be able to offer help. However, Mr Lacey did point out the cost would be high for a full Sustainability Appraisal.
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3 / Discussion re. Sustainability Appraisal
In addition to the above, Mr Lacey informed members a Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment had been conducted for the Core Strategy, though it needed more detail.
Mr Lacey also mentioned both himself and Roger Gazzard had asked Communities and Local Government if a Sustainability Appraisal was required, and although they initially said it wasn’t necessary, Mr Lacey had contacted them again to discuss the role of the Sustainability Appraisal, including the recommended allocation of sites, and had not heard a response yet though when he had it would be reported to the working group via Mr Gazzard. Hilary Gooch reiterated someone would need to conduct a Sustainability Appraisal on the Neighbourhood Plan once it had been completed. It was added once an appraisal had taken place, the performance of the plan would then be looked and sites would be chosen as ‘best’ in appraisal terms.
Councillor Southcombe wondered if proposed housing numbers were able to be challenged, and Mr Lacey responded the Neighbourhood Plan had to comply with local and national policy, and the Housing Working Group currently were able to justify 4,000 homes which the Sustainability Appraisal would then have to be applied to. Furthermore, it was entirely possible the Neighbourhood Plan could look to change the numbers of proposed houses within the Core Strategy , though once the Core Stategy had been adopted, if there was a large discrepancy between proposed housing numbers of the Neighbourhood Plan and Core Strategy it would mean the Neighbourhood Plan was out of conformity and therefore redundant. Mr Lacey suggested working alongside the Core Strategy team to ensure this wouldn’t happen.
Cheryl Marriott asked if the Neighbourhood Plan policies would differ from those of the Core Strategy and Mr Lacey replied within the Neighbourhood Plan they were likely to be more generalised and would of course be on a local level. It was added the strategic policies would likely focus on open space, provision etc, similar to Core Strategy policy. Cheryl added it would be wise to focus on things which had not been covered in the Core Strategy as opposed to repeating work which had already been completed though Mr Lacey did point out National Policy did change and it was impossible to predict. It was added the fewer policies the Neighbourhood Plan had, the less complex it would be when it came to applying the Sustainability Appraisal, and any lifted from the Core Strategy would already have been subjected to these standards.
It was agreed members would have a better idea of the direction of the Neighbourhood Plan, and also where it stood in terms of applying a Sustainability Appraisal after a workshop which was planned for March. / RL
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4 / Discussion on the documentation distributed prior to the meeting, under the following headings, which can be continued in the following meeting also:
Climate, Waste, Minerals and Soil, Air and Water, Biodiversity, Landscape, Maritime, Historic Environment, Design, Social Issues, Housing, Regeneration, Energy.
As this item, due to its nature, was considered under other items on the agenda it was agreed to be skipped in the meeting. / ALL
5 / Consideration of the need to commission the following studies:
a)A climate change report for the area
Following the minutes of the last meeting, Mr Gazzard reported he had spoken to the University of Exeter about the likelihood of asking a graduate to help with creating a Climate Change Report similar to the report completed for Exeter. Unfortunately there were no suitable graduates available at this time, however Mr Gazzard had received an outline of what would be needed if a report was to be commissioned.
Mr Lacey posed the question of whether or not the report needed to be part of the Neighbourhood Plan, or could a report run alongside, highlighting a series of action points for the City which would support the policies outlined in the Neighbourhood Plan. Councillor Southcombe and Mr Gazzard both proposed it was the latter, which would form a type of Risk Assessment Strategy for the City. Mr Lacey suggested much would be covered in the Sustainability Appraisal already, such as a shoreline management etc. It was suggested Hilary Gooch could check to see what was already covered so it would not be repeated. Mr Gazzard added he felt there was a gap for a Risk Assessment Strategy, and also risk areas in Truro could be identified. Mr Lacey reported the Infrastructure Delivery Plan had already looked at some of this with the involvement of South West Water to understand if there was an issue with particular proposed developments, and there were strategies and initiatives designed to use water saving technology within building regulations. However, Mr Lacey pointed out if the group decided, for example, to work towards a Code 4 eventuality, many of the issues discussed within the group would be covered. Councillor Southcombe added Transition Truro may be interested in being involved.
Margaret Sellwood asked if it was possible to have an action plan for flooding in Truro, as since the flash floods in Boscastle they had put an action plan into place. Mr Lacey cited an existing paper – a Surface Water Action Plan, which could be referred to, and the county’s hydrologist would able to identify high risk areas, and areas suitable for safeguarding works, though he felt it impossible to plan to safeguard against major disasters.
Robin Sellwood asked if the hydrologist made assessments for drains and the risk of flooding in developed areas. Mr Lacey responded hydrologists identified areas within sites that would be suitable for sustainable drainage systems which would utilise both private and public areas within the site. A system would then be designed to meet national Ceria standards. Mr Lacey added climate changes were a factor considered, and the Strategic Suburban Drainage Systems Report was updated constantly. Hilary added any site identified for development had to be the same or better than the Greenfield site e.g. the field, after development, would need to have a better water run-off rate than previously. Conditions such as the addition of hedges etc, could be used to achieve this.
It was also pointed out Mr Wood would need to know the scope and the predicted policies that might emerge to enable him to consider how big the Sustainability Appraisal would have to be.
It was agreed it should be considered whether or not a separate meeting with the Housing Working Group should be set up to discuss only the Sustainability Appraisal so it did not dominate the discussion on environmental considerations relating to developments.
Mr Gazzard gave a brief overview of the way the Neighbourhood Plan was moving forward, emphasising the likelihood the working groups would split after the March workshop and reform into fewer groups with specific direction.
Hilary informed members she attended a Green Infrastructure workshop and considered a Green Infrastructure Plan for Truro could be developed which would cover how open spaces were linked and planned.
Mr Lacey spoke about the importance of aspirations for the City, but it was also vital to be able to identify who would be able to deliver them and how. Councillor Southcombe added it was important, during public engagement, to make people aware delivering a provision was often more complex than the aspiration of it e.g. many people wished for an allotment but it was not easy to procure suitable space for plots.
Hilary informed members the government had released a Climate Change Report for the whole of the UK, which could be read on the DEFRA website, and key risks, which would also be relevant to Truro may be covered in this. Hilary added if a Risk Assessment report was available for the Cornwall area she would seek permission to circulate. Hilary added the European Centre for Environment and Human Health was working on a Climate Change and Adaptation Plan for Cornwall.
Mr Gazzard asked what would happen in specific circumstances, such as if the power lines were blown down. Hilary responded it would be covered in a broad sense though there may not be a specified solution. Mr Lacey added the Critical Infrastructure Plan examined what was likely to be critical and provided for emergency planning which would cover Truro, identifying areas of vulnerable people and the sub-station. Hilary also pointed out the Local Resilience Forum was examining risk within the area as well as ways in which local community could take responsibility for incidents and plan action in states of emergency. Hilary would provide a contact to the group.
Mapping was also discussed, and Hilary Gooch offered to try and source maps which worked together in layers to show areas of wildlife and biodiversity, open spaces etc, as well as maps showing flood plains and contour maps.
Mr Sellwood asked if the plan was to go to each of the sites identified by the Housing Working Group, and to apply a checklist of environmental criteria to weed out areas which should not be developed. Mr Lacey pointed out there were already existing appraisals taking into account landscaping, agricultural quality of the land, slopes etc. Following this, a closer look would disqualify unsuitable sites, followed by a detailed look at ecological features within allocated sites, and size and space. Mr Lacey added this was important to express to the public so they understood why specific sites were chosen over others.
Maragaret Sellwood asked the density of houses per hectare, and Mr Lacey replied there was no longer a standard for England, however it usually worked out to around 25 to 30 houses per hectare.
b)River catchment areas
Mr Gazzard informed the group he had spoken to Russell Smith from Westcountry Rivers Trust regarding the modelling of rivers, as discussed at the previous meeting, and Sean Pritchard was at the previous meeting of the Steering Group who informed Mr Gazzard work was already being carried out on rivers in the Cornwall area at present, and as such he would liaise with Mr Smith to ensure there was no overlap prior to making a decision to commission modelling of Truro’s rivers.
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6 / Consideration of three questions on which to focus public engagement
It was agreed the three questions should be broad enough to receive suitable responses from the public but still provide focus. Amongst the suggestions were the following:
- What are your top three objectives for your community network area?
- Which part of the natural environment do you value most?
- Would you consider using renewable energy on your property?
- What have you done about insulating your home?
It was agreed members would attend the next meeting having considered three questions for inclusion. / ALL
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7 / Date of Next Meeting
Tuesday 13th March at 6:00pm / -
The Meeting closed at 7.37 pm
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CHAIRMAN
TCC/RR