Climate Emergency Sub-Committee 22 October 2020 MINUTES OF THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY SUB-COMMITTEE MEETING held via video conference Zoom meeting on Thursday 22 October 2020 at 4:00pm PRESENT Councillors JM How (Chair) W Elliott (Vice Chair) B Jackson P Young Also present: Becky Orchard (Communications Officer), Rachel Yates (Sustainable Penzance), Lesley Michell (Extinction Rebellion) 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Hester Hunt (Town Clerk), Melanie Doig Absent without apologies: Cllrs NC Broadhurst and JS Lambourn 2. TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST None received. 3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION No requests from the public to participate. 4. TO RESOLVE TO EXCLUDE MEMBERS OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including the press) have been excluded as publicity would prejudice the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted Public Bodies [Admission to Meetings] Act 1960. There were no confidential items to be considered 5. TO CONFIRM MINUTES OF THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY SUB-COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 8 OCTOBER 2020 It was proposed that the minutes of the meeting having been previously circulated, it was unanimously; RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the Climate Emergency Sub – Committee meeting held on 8 October 2020. (Proposed: Cllr Elliott; seconded: Cllr Jackson) 6. ITEMS FOR DECISION a) Information Leaflet and Toolkits to be hand delivered by volunteers or mailed out Lesley Michell reported that she had found 10-12 volunteers to hand deliver the leaflets and toolkits. She also reported that more volunteers could be recruited from local churches in the parish. -20- Climate Emergency Sub-Committee 22 October 2020 It was suggested that the volunteers would focus on the more built up areas in the parish first and any difficult addresses to reach could be mailed out from the Penlee Centre. All members of the committee offered to volunteer in addition to the volunteers that will be fielded by Lesley Michell and Rachel Yates. Each volunteer to be given a minimum of 200 envelopes to deliver – they can collect more if they feel able. Rachel Yates reported that at a Sustainable Penzance meeting, the board raised concerns that if the leaflets and toolkits were addressed to ‘The Occupier’ many will immediately end up in the bin. Actions: Becky Orchard to liaise with Cornwall Council to ensure that the envelopes will only state the address, not ‘The Occupier’, and will be printed in Ward/Post Code order. It was unanimously; RESOLVED: That volunteers fielded by Lesley Michell and Rachel Yates, along with any willing Councillors, will hand deliver the leaflets and toolkits. Becky Orchard will liaise with Lesley Michell and Rachel Yates, and willing Councillors, to coordinate the bundling of envelopes ready for distribution. (Proposed: Cllr Young; seconded: Cllr How) b) Additional costs for the insertion of the Community Toolkits into envelopes It was unanimously; RESOLVED: To approve the additional costs for the insertion of the Community Toolkits into envelopes. The total cost for this, including the printing of the Council leaflets. (Proposed: Cllr Elliott; seconded: Cllr How) Action: Rachel Yates to order the additional printing/folding and provide an invoice to Penzance Council. c) Shortage of 1,506 Community Toolkits Rachel Yates reported that at a Sustainable Penzance meeting, the board agreed that if Sustainable Penzance had to fund the cost of printing additional toolkits the Schools Toolkit would not be published. Rachel Yates reported that there would be a 2 week turn around to get the additional 1,506 toolkits printed and folded. Cllr Elliott argued that the full 11,506 toolkits should be printed to ensure that every envelope will include the leaflet and toolkit. -21- Climate Emergency Sub-Committee 22 October 2020 Preparations for hand delivery (printing, inserting, addressing, and collecting the envelopes) to be completed by 21st November 2020. Cllr Elliott suggested that if no bundled envelopes have been given to volunteers by 27th November 2020 that distribution be delayed until the New Year. It was unanimously; RESOLVED: To provide the additional cost of £614.00 to print a further 1,506 toolkits. (Proposed: Cllr Elliott; seconded Cllr Jackson) 7. ITEMS FOR INFORMATION a) Online Food Hub Cllr How reported that there had been rapid progress in the last few days and has now arranged a meeting for next week with Jess Morris (Penzance BID Manager) and a representative from the Helston Food Hub. There are hopes that this could be a cornerstone project as it is scalable and can reach people who would not ordinarily go to farmers’ markets. It will also encourage more people to start growing produce even if they have limited space. Growing Links were also mentioned and it was agreed that for any future project close working relations should be established with them. Cllr How has suggested that The Coach House could be a potential location for growers to bring their produce for distribution. Cllr How will report back at a future meeting with the outcomes from the meeting with Penzance BID and Helston Food Hub. 8. MATTERS ARISING FOR REPORT ONLY Electric Car Charging Points Becky Orchard reported that Peter Lefort (Sector and Partnerships Lead for Carbon Neutral Cornwall) had been in touch to confirm the following: • There is no current firm strategy at Cornwall Council • Work is underway to secure funding for 150 further charging points across Cornwall, and a decision is expected by the end of this year • If that is successful, then there will be a team of four staff at Cornwall Council who we can liaise with • It is fair to assume that some of the 150 additional charging points would be in Penzance, most likely in Council-owned car parks Newlyn Community Orchard Cllr How reported that Ruthie Weaver had been in contact about a Community Orchard in Newlyn – she has restarted talks with Cornwall Council about the site in Newlyn. -22- Climate Emergency Sub-Committee 22 October 2020 Cllr Elliott asked whether any progress had been made on preparing a Newlyn survey regarding its open spaces and environment Sustainable Penzance Website Rachel Yates reported that barring a few tweaks, the Sustainable Penzance website was ready to go. Once the site is live Rachel will send an email to everyone with a link to view it. The website will have a blog page and Penzance Council are welcome to contribute content to update people know on any developments with the Climate Emergency Action Plan, or other related news and events. Recycling in Penzance Cllr Young raised that since the closure of the communal recycling centre at Wherrytown there are now several refuse collection lorries regularly driving around Penzance with an increase in CO2 emissions. Rachel Yates stated that a coordinated waste management strategy is needed and it needs to be easier for businesses to recycle. Cllr Elliott agreed that this is something that the Sub Committee could look to lobby local representatives to develop a coordinated waste management strategy for businesses and to reopen recycling centres again in the future. Rachel Yates raised that waste reduction is also vitally important and the closure of the recycling centres is making people think more carefully about their waste. Date of next meeting Thursday 12th November 2020 at 4:00pm The meeting closed at 5:10pm Chair 2020 -23- .