To receive a verbal update from Jonathan Ward on the ‘Net Zero Fast Followers’ programme.
Minutes:
The Chairman invited Jonathan Ward from the Norfolk Climate Change Partnership to give a presentation on ‘Norfolk Net Zero Communities’. He outlined the background to the project and explained that it was a two-year Innovate UK funded scheme. He explained that the approach was focussed on finding the right options for people and the place they lived in, at the right times and in the right form to make the net zero transition work for them and their community. He outlined project governance and delivery and then handed over to NNDC’s Climate & Environmental Policy Manager to talk to members about the selection of Stalham as the chosen community for North Norfolk to take part in the scheme. She explained that Stalham met the criteria for selection in terms of population and had a demographic and housing mix which complemented the other areas chosen. There was a high degree of electric and other off-gas heating and pockets of fuel poverty. She added that it was important that it was a community that was keen to engage with the project and it fitted in well with various other ongoing schemes in the town and surrounding areas.
Mr Ward concluded his presentation by outlining the next steps for the project. He empathised the importance of community engagement and support from parish and town councils.
The Chairman thanked Mr Ward for his presentation and invited members to ask questions:
Cllr W Fredericks said that the Council’s Energy Officer was currently ‘door-knocking’ in Stalham to offer help to residents through the ‘Norfolk Warm Homes’ scheme. In addition, leaflets regarding the Early Help Hub were being widely distributed in the town so that holistic support was being offered.
Cllr A Varley, Portfolio Holder for Climate Change and Net Zero thanked Mr Ward for his presentation. He said that when the Council was looking to achieve its ambitious target of Net Zero by 2030, it was important to remember that the biggest emissions were outside of the Council’s control so projects such as this were fundamental to driving the Net Zero programme forward.
Cllr C Ringer said that he welcomed the project. He said it was important to highlight the co-benefits of dealing with climate change. It could be a challenging issue to ‘sell’ to local communities but if it could be demonstrated that making homes more energy efficient could help residents save money as well as benefitting the environment, then real progress could be made. He added that he welcomed the opportunities to work with local businesses, particularly hospitality, and he was interested to see how the project progressed. He concluded by asking how other communities could learn from Stalham as the scheme was rolled out.
Mr Ward replied that the intention was to highlight the benefits of the Stalham scheme and others across Norfolk and share those with other communities so they could learn from it. Parishes would be advocates for this so they could speak to others. He concluded by saying it was a fast-changing landscape and everyone was learning all the time.
Cllr J Toye commented that climate change had been a documented issue since 1896. In 1988 it was first taken seriously and in 1994 the first legislation was introduced. He asked what would be achieved by this project that hadn’t been done before. What was different this time. Mr Ward replied that nationally concern about climate change was very high. There had always been two gaps – turning concern into action and intention to act into being able to act. This second one presented a key challenge and showing people how to act and demonstrating that it was not too complex would bring about change.
The Chairman thanked Mr Ward for his very informative presentation.