Witness Sessions
Areas to consider:
· Feedback and reflections
· Any outstanding issues
· Cabinet Member engagement
Minutes:
Witnesses:
Katie Sargent, Environment Commissioning Group Manager
Rachel Crossley, Director of Strategic Commissioning
Key points raised:
Feedback and Reflections
1. The Environment Commissioning Group Manager explained that there were a few witness sessions left to re-arrange. This included Stroud District Council and Wiltshire Council. (officers will circulate the details)
2. Members agreed that the notes from the witness sessions should be collated into a summarised document to go the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee.
3. JE- The presentation by Extinction Rebellion (XR) was not useful due to the presentation style.
4. Members agreed that there should be an all-Member Briefing on the evidence from the witness sessions and the Task Group would look into presenting their ideas and challenges to all Members.
5. In response to NB and JOR’s request, the Environment Commissioning Group Manager will collate the evidence from the witness sessions on best practice by other councils and organisations as this would be useful to the Council going forward.
6. The Director of Strategic Commissioning informed Members that the finalised report would be ready for the next Task Group meeting in November.
Any outstanding issues
7. NB – Community engagement needed developing and it would be useful if the Task Group received more specialists on this area.
8. PD – There needed to be greater emphasis on increasing public participation and Facebook would be a useful tool to aid this.
9. The Environment Commissioning Group Manager stated that the Council’s weakest theme area was Countryside, food, farming, water and land use and asked Members for their ideas to address that.
10. JE – suggested the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) useful pamphlet on sustainable land use and farming titled ‘Our Future in the Land’. In response, the Environment Commissioning Group Manager would look into that.
11. PD – suggested that Surrey Hills Enterprises was a useful organisation to and would help raise business engagement.
12. JE – summarised key themes:
· Transport - the recent regional Local Transport Body consultation on sustainable transport was helpful to the Council.
· Buildings - the Council needed a focussed plan in order for the Council to move towards zero carbon emissions.
· Waste - supported the Community Recycling Centres (CRCs) staying open.
· Energy - a detailed follow-up is needed on this that focuses on renewable energy.
13. In response to JE’s query, the Director of Strategic Commissioning recognised that a more comprehensive plan on the economic development of Surrey was needed to develop the Council’s Vision 2030 and make use of the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).
14. NB – true commitment to Surrey’s Greener Future required sufficient resources.
15. JE – a detailed revenue budget was needed which identified orders of magnitude across relevant areas.
Cabinet Member engagement
16. AM – reminded Members of the Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste’s recent visit to the ‘Cut the Pollution’ campaign in Farnham.
17. JE – it would be useful for Members to receive the baseline data from the ... view the full minutes text for item 3