The Environmental Panel of the District Council met on Monday 19th May to discuss the new draft 5year Climate Emergency Plan. This can be viewed here : Agenda for Public Facing Environment Panel on Monday 19 May 2025, 2.00 pm – Chichester District Council
The Plan will now go to be discussed at the following council meetings:
- Overview and Scrutiny Committee 1st July
- Cabinet 8th July
- Council 15th July (for final approval)
So there is time to talk to councillors and officers about the plan now if you wish but importantly please make your views known to your local disrict councillor and to the deputy leader and overall lead member for the Environment, Jonathan Brown.
Our Overview of the New Plan
Please read the draft Plan if you have time. If not, this overview is our summary and views of the Plan.
The draft Plan It is in essence a set of very worthwhile projects which respond to the priorities people expressed in the consultation which took place last summer. The Council is taking leadership to support the community more widely rather than focus, as does the current plan, on its own services. This is great to see and we applaud this!
There is a set of proposals headed District Proposals (Appendix 2) which show an element of re-focussing existing staff resources to be more outward facing and keener to engage and support the community. We are delighted to see a focus on climate adaptation and we look forward to supporting the Council in this area. There are also some important initiatives in this area during the life of the plan that we will be keeping our eyes on.
However, as we all know the Council may disappear soon to be replaced by a new unitary authority so at this stage it is important to maintain a positive dialogue with both members and officers, many of whom will no doubt reappear in the new local authority structure. And the more projects that can be financially committed the more likely they are to have a life after the demise of the District Council.
In terms of major new proposals, the Plan (reflecting the public response) gives priority to decarbonising housing in the District, Tree Planting and an ambitious proposal to develop a carbon offset scheme based on new marine areas such as marshland. For major projects the Council’s project management process requires a business case is developed and approved before funding is committed and also that a project initiation document is produced which sets out how the project will be managed and the outcomes that the should be delivered, The Project Initiation Documents and associated funding for the following two projects are put forward for approval over the 5 year life of the plan and could be approved finally at the Council meeting on the 15th July:
- Housing decarbonisation officer at a cost of £307,000 ( see Appendix 2 and 4)
- Tree Project officer at a cost of £200,000 ( see Appendix 2 and 5)
Compared to the current plan, the new plan (see Appendix 2) is much more readable but it still needs work on it to make it interesting enough to be read by more people. We support the proposals in the plan and would like it to cut through to the public. We think there are good examples of documents produced by other district councils which use photos and interesting presentational styles and we would like the CDC plan to look and feel much more interesting. If you agree please include this request in any response you make
Housing Decarbonisation Officer
As we know, the energy we use to keep our homes warm during the winter is a significant source of carbon emissions. The government are encouraging us all to change our gas boilers to air source heat pumps. Better insulation and solar panels are also considerations. The Plan proposes employing a new Council Officer to help householders make the switch by providing better information and guidance and be a trusted voice in the community on this issue. This is very important to avoid people in our area making poor decisions, especially as a result if unscrupulous suppliers and fitters. We understand such officers in other parts of the country are having a good impact in their area so we support this new post.
Tree Strategy Officer
The proposal is to appoint a new tree strategy officer after the current government funded tree planting project finishes this year. The officer would help landowners and land managers to take advantage of the governments capital grants available for tree planting and the goal here is an annual total of 15,000 trees. Without this post the number would be considerably fewer so the proposal deserves support
The Marine Based Carbon Offset Scheme
This is being developed as a project but has not in sufficient detail for funding approval. Marine areas such as the seabed and coastal marshes are considered vey effective in absorbing significant amounts of carbon. If more marine areas are improved or more marshes formed then the additional carbon storage has a commercial value and subject to authentication can be sold on the offsets market. The climate change group will be looking into this project to find more about how it might work out in practice. It may also help on coastal defence.
Local Area Energy Plan (LEAP)
This is a great idea and has been done in other areas of the country. It paves the way for looking at where solar farms and other green energy generation or storage might be best located in our District. It can help local residents appreciate the trade offs that need to be made to face up to the needs of the nation to be less reliant on fossil fuels and also to drive down the cost of energy.
It is unlikely that the Plan would be completed before the DistrictCouncil is abolished but the information gathered would be used by the successor authority. The spectacle of the South Mundham application and the forthcoming appeal is a much more costly way to resolve the issues at stake and Council Tax payers will no doubt balk at paying the legal costs involved.
Projects Not Approved
These are listed in the Plan. They were consulted on and thought by the public to have lower priority than the above.
prepared by Colin McKenna, chair of Chichester Climate Change Group