Climate Change and Sustainability Committee
Komiti Kaupapa Taiao
Minutes of a meeting
held in the Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, 30 Laings Road,
Lower Hutt on
Monday 1 March 2021 commencing at 2.00pm
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PRESENT: |
Cr J Briggs (Chair) |
Mayor C Barry |
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Cr K Brown |
Cr S Edwards |
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Deputy Mayor T Lewis |
Cr A Mitchell |
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Cr S Rasheed (Deputy Chair) |
Cr N Shaw |
APOLOGIES: There were no apologies.
IN ATTENDANCE: Ms H Oram, Director Environment and Sustainability
Mr B Hodgins, Strategic Advisor
Mr J Scherzer, Manager Sustainability and Resilience
Mr D Burt,
Senior Advisor, Sustainability and Resilience
Ms J Randall, Committee Advisor
PUBLIC BUSINESS
1. APOLOGIES
There were no apologies.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT
Comments are recorded under the item to which they relate.
3. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS
There were no conflict of interest declarations.
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4. |
Update on Council's Climate Change Work (21/160) Report No. CCASC2021/1/36 by the Manager, Sustainability and Resilience |
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The Manager, Sustainability and Resilience elaborated on the report. In response to questions from members, the Manager, Sustainability and Resilience agreed to request additional information from Council’s Head of Transport on the impact of using underspending from other budgets to subsidise LED luminaires. This additional information would include an estimate of when installation of LED luminaires would be completed. He said officers would discuss with Council’s Communications and Engagement team the best way to communicate the achievement of a low energy building standard for the new office building at the Silverstream Landfill. In response to a question from a member, the Manager, Sustainability and Resilience advised that he did not have statistics on how Council’s fleet of electric cars compared with others around the country. He noted regional statistics showed Council was leading on both the number and the relative percentage of electric cars in its fleet. He further advised that the acquisition of electric vehicles for Council’s fleet had been limited by the current lease, the inability to aquire electric utility vehicles and a lack of suitable sites for charging stations at Market Grove. In response to a question from a member, the Manager, Sustainability and Resilience said the new Silverstream Landfill flare had reduced carbon emissions by around 10-20%. He estimated the Silverstream Landfill could be capturing 70-80% of total methane emissions but acknowledged it was difficult to measure. In response to a question from a member, the Manager, Sustainability and Resilience noted officers were already investigating options for recovering construction and demolition waste. He added the feasibility of collecting food waste would be considered when the current system was reviewed. In response to a question from a member, the Director Environment and Sustainability advised she would be seeking clarification from Council’s Communications and Engagement team on messaging around green waste in rubbish bins. |
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Resolved: (Cr Briggs/Cr Brown) Minute No. CCASC 21101 “That the Committee: (1) notes the update on various climate change work streams; and (2) notes that a lead group made up of community representatives is nearing the final stages of its work to co-create the process for engaging with the community on climate change, and that engagement on a city-wide roadmap for reducing emissions is scheduled to commence in late March 2021.” |
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Update on Council's solid waste management and minimisation work (21/169) Report No. CCASC2021/1/37 by the Manager, Sustainability and Resilience |
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The Manager, Sustainability and Resilience elaborated on the report. In response to a question from a member, the Manager, Sustainability and Resilience advised that officers had engaged the Akina Foundation to investigate broader environmental outcomes for the landfill. He noted that if Council decided to retain a cleanfill it would not require the same expensive infrastructure as a landfill. He considered a cleanfill would need to be reviewed separately. He added that as with construction and demolition waste, food waste would be looked at from a regional perspective to create economies of scale and a business case would be required. |
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Resolved: (Cr Briggs/Cr Shaw) Minute No. CCASC 21102 “That the Committee notes the update on various solid waste management and minimisation work streams.” |
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Kerbside Rubbish and Recycling Update (21/170) Report No. CCASC2021/1/24 by the Strategic Advisor |
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Speaking under public comment, Mr F Vickers commended Council on the installation of a flare at the Silverstream Landfill. He expressed concern for the amount of putrescent material still going to landfill. He urged Council to focus on reducing the amount of this material and asked if there was a good reason food waste could not be collected separately. He expressed disappointment in residents’ green waste collection uptake. He added that the message on Council’s website stating that green waste could go in with the weekly rubbish collection was disappointing and not environmentally desirable. He asked that the message be removed and that future messaging be changed. The Strategic Advisor elaborated on the report. He reported the results of a survey of ratepayers who had not made a rubbish and recycling bin selection: One third of those surveyed had been happy with the default option, one third either forgot or had been busy and one person did not know about the changes. He concluded this information would be useful when targeting future communications. He advised officers would be looking at other means to increase the uptake of a green waste collection such as considering a shared service and marketing the option to those with large sections. In response to a question from a member, the Strategic Advisor said officers would be reviewing the frequency of the green waste collections system and would be considering other options that might improve the service. In response to a question from a member, the Director Environment and Sustainability explained that members would be given the opportunity to view future publicity material for rubbish and recycling changes before its release but would not have the opportunity to comment on the publicity material. In response to a question from a member, the Strategic Advisor said he understood it was the responsibility of the contractor to find a way to collect rubbish and recycling if roadworks impeded access to the kerb. He agreed to investigate this matter. He added that refinements to the Knights Road connection project would enable the contractor to collect rubbish and recycling. |
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Resolved: (Cr Briggs/Cr Brown) Minute No. CCASC 21103 “That the report be noted and received.” |
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Submission to Climate Change Commission (21/208) Report No. CCASC2021/1/39 by the Manager, Sustainability and Resilience |
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The Chair advised that the deadline for submissions had been extended to 28 March 2021. He foreshadowed an additional motion that would provide an opportunity for the submission to be agreed as a formal submission at the Council meeting on 24 March 2021. |
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Resolved: (Cr Briggs/Cr Edwards) Minute No. CCASC 21104 “That the Committee: (1) agrees to the submission as shown in Appendix 1 attached to the report; (2) agrees that, due to the tight timeframes involved, the submission be sent by the Mayor, subject to agreement on the finalised content with the Standing Committee Chairs; and (3) agrees that Cr Briggs, Cr Rasheed and Cr Mitchell update and finalise the details of the submission with the support of officers, and that endorsement of the submission be sought at the Council meeting on 24 March 2021.” |
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Committee Work Programme (21/194) Report No. CCASC2021/1/38 by the Manager, Sustainability and Resilience |
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The Manager, Sustainability and Resilience elaborated on the report. He added that future work programmes would include the names of officers leading the reports. The Chair advised he would be inviting community groups with a focus on biodiversity, sustainability, climate change or carbon reduction to future meetings. He would be working with officers to arrange for one group to attend each meeting. He added he would be seeking opportunities to support these local groups. The Deputy Mayor requested an update on the impact of Climate Change Commission proposals on other areas of Council’s work such as the District Plan. |
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Resolved: (Cr Briggs/Cr Mitchell) Minute No. CCASC 21105 “That the Committee: (1) agrees to the proposed work programme shown in Table 1 contained within the report; and (2) agrees that Cr Briggs and Cr Rasheed will work with officers to make any amendments to the work programme as needed.” |
9. QUESTIONS
There were no questions
There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 2.45pm.
J Briggs
CHAIR
CONFIRMED as a true and correct record
Dated this 24th day of March 2021