Report on TDC/Northam Town Council Activities  from Peter Hames

Torridge District Council

I was re-elected in May for Appledore Ward and re-appointed Lead Member for Climate Emergency. Councillor Doug Smith was elected Chair of the Climate Emergency Working Group.

The Carbon Plan  has been revised and approved by Councillors . The Joint Climate Officer Donna Sibley has done a lot of work obtaining data on TDC’s emissions  but little progress has been achieved on the Carbon Plan’s objective. This is partly due to lack of financial commitment at the Council but also because the results of an  assessment are awaited of TDC properties in order to determine what should be retained, what should be the subject of energy and carbon reduction measures and what should be disposed of.

The carbon assessment of the properties commissioned by TDC shows that the main generators of carbon are the leisure centres run by the Council and external funding is currently being sought to implement these.   I have tried to get the Estates Manager to prioritise energy reduction measures regarding other properties but have met resistance. The upcoming budget-setting process at TDC is an opportunity to advocate greater financial commitment to climate measures at the Council and Green Councillors need to push for this.

Carbon Emissions Score:  A recent scoring of local authorities’ performance in reducing carbon emissions has shown TDC as near the bottom of the list with a 17 percent score. That compares, for example, with NDDC’s 31 per cent and Exeter City’s 56 percent.

TDC Transport Emissions: Regarding the significant emissions from the Council’s transport fleet the situation remains that it is considered by officers that  electric vehicles do not have the range or towing capacity for the Council’s needs in a rural area and that the cost of purchasing EVs is prohibitive given the Council’s financial constraints. However, there is a commitment to purchasing EVs when the technology develops and prices come down. However, some cordless machinery has been purchased for the Grounds Maintenance team.

Under so-called Scope 2 emissions there are high emissions associated with goods and services purchased by the Council and I have tried to get the Council to adopt a procurement policy whereby providers are engaged with in order to achieve carbon reductions. There is currently a working group looking at a  Social Value policy   which includes a consideration of such reductions.

Bike rack and Water Fountains:  While there is disappointing progress in implementing the carbon plan there have been some quick gains. The Climate Group called for bike rack installation at Riverbank House and this has been done and we successfully got approval for a proposal to investigate installing water fountains at TDC properties in order to reduce single plastic bottle use. Also lobbying by myself and the Climate Group has led to the drafting of a biodiversity plan for implementation by the Council’s Grounds Maintenance team.

EV chargers in TDC car parks: Again there is a disappointing record as several have not worked for some time. Work is going on to seek a new contractor and the Council has bid in to a County scheme to fund 2000 charge points in Devon.

A revised  Joint Local Plan continues to be discussed  with NDDC and I am on the Joint Committee. I have pushed for climate reduction measures to be incorporated in the revised plan but  due to a difference of opinion between the two Councils  on whether to go for a partial or a full review progress has been held up. If a partial review is decided then this will limit what climate measures can be incorporated in the short term. More positively  there is a clear commitment from both Councils to revise planning policies so that onshore renewable energy is progressed.

I am now Vice Chair of the Council’s Planning Committee. I am using every opportunity to ensure climate and biodiversity policies are recognised by Members when considering planning applications.

Active Travel: I continue to chair the Council’s Active Travel Advisory Group. The Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) has been approved by County and the way is open to implement its content but there are financial constraints and Government active travel funding has been cut. There has also a reaction by some members of the public and Councillors against some suggested cycling routes as evidenced by the negative response of some Councillors to the Group’s recommendation to run a cycle route through Victoria Park in Bideford as part of a strategic cycle route from Northam. A consultation in Bideford held by myself and another Active Travel Group member to advocate a safer link from the Tarka Trail to Bideford has also met with strong opposition and a revised proposal is being investigated.

Housing: The Council is still considering sites for development of social and affordable housing. Some of the Council’s proposed sites on the initial list came under fierce opposition so a shorter list is now being investigated in conjunction with housing associations and developers.

I am also a member of the Council’s Community and Resources Committee, the key committee for  considering  projects at TDC. The Climate Working Group reports to it and makes recommendations.

Torridge received funding to develop a Clean Maritime Centre in Appledore with the aim of attracting research in to sustainable maritime products and activities and to generate local employment. It is hoped planning approval will be granted soon.

Northam Town Council

Peter Elected as Mayor:  As Mayor I  chair the Council and have  attended numerous civic functions, welcomed the Lithuanian Ambassador to Appledore Shipyard to inspect a ship being upgraded for his country and presented two ladies with certificates and flowers to mark their hundredth birthdays!

Climate issues:  There is more positive news relating to the Town Council. The solar and battery system on the Council-owned Northam Hall is contributing significantly to its energy consumption and carbon reduction and the large water containers I proposed are installed at the building and capturing  rain water for use by the maintenance men.   Northam Hall is to continue to reduce emissions by installing roof or wall insulation.

After prolonged discussion, the project in the Carbon Plan to replace the Council’s petrol and diesel vehicles with EVs  was partly achieved by the decision to purchase an Orca electric flat- bed vehicle. This is now in regular use in the area and the maintenance men are happy with its performance and charge it partly from the solar energy produced at the Hall-. The Council has also purchased battery powered equipment.

The Climate Emergency Committee (which I chair) continued to work together well in considering and implementing other projects, including implementing a biodiversity plan of planting wild flowers, trees and shrubs and rewilding in the Council’s open spaces and the verges which the Council maintains. A grant was obtained for Appledore School for hedging to go in the school’s environmentally-friendly space and some of the Councillors (including me) had an enjoyable morning planting the hedge with the children. We have also established a connection by supporting the School’s planned environment building and  aspiration to connect widely with the community. I have also engaged with St Margaret’s School and encouraged involvement in climate and biodiversity projects.

Together with another Councillor and the Deputy Clerk I did a presentation to sixth formers at Bideford College, informing them of Northam’s climate and biodiversity actions and plans, and this led to them forming a climate action group. My Mayor’s Cadet Oliver Ross, who is a student at the College,  has been very supportive.

The Climate Committee also produced a poster illustrating the Council’s climate measures and urging the community to engage. The poster has been displayed at various venues in the parish.

As Chair  of the Northam Neighbourhood Plan Advisory Group I have worked with other Councillors  to complete the draft  Plan and to get it ready to be submitted for examination by an independent examiner. In this process I have made sure that climate and biodiversity policies are fully incorporated.

I am pleased at what Northam has achieved in striving to reduce our carbon emissions, despite some opposition from some Councillors. I am currently concerned, however, about  proposals to disband the Climate Committee and instead to incorporate its functions in to the Council’s Town Projects Committee. My worry is that if this happens then the energy and commitment shown by Climate Committee members would be dissipated (and in some cases undermined by certain Councillors) and that there would no longer be a specific budget devoted to climate measures.

Finally I must emphasise that tackling the effects of climate change is of extreme urgency now and especially given the backlash which is now being experienced more strongly from right-wing climate denying elements.

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North Devon & Torridge Climate Forum

11^th February 2023

What would a low carbon, fair, healthy Northern Devon look like?

Summary of Outcomes

 

Introduction

The North Devon and Torridge Climate Forum has been holding quarterly meetings for over four years, working closely with North Devon and Torridge Councils from the beginning. The Forum currently has 585 members on its mailing list.

The most recent Forum, held on February 11^th 2023, was entitled ‘What Would a Low Carbon, Fair and Healthy Northern Devon Look Like’. This Forum built on the previous one which looked at the Devon Carbon Plan. The intention was to generate ideas as to how the principle of the Devon Carbon Plan could be incorporated into the ongoing revision of the North Devon and Torridge Local Plan. The intention was to submit these ideas to the planners in charge of the Local Plan review for their consideration.

The Forum took the form of a presentation, given by Stephen Pitcher, introducing the concept of the 20-minute neighborhood and raising a series of questions about housing, transport, energy and health. This presentation was followed by the audience breaking into geographical based groups to consider the following questions:

• What facilities are missing from your area?
• How and where should they be provided?
• Where should new housing go to meet housing needs?
• What active travel and public transport services do we need to make this happen?

 

The six geographical groups were:

• Barnstaple
• Bideford
• Fremington and Yelland
• Northam and Westward Ho!
• Rural Torridge
• Rural North Devon

 

Each group was provided with a map of their area (provided by the Councils and taken from the Local Plan), along with flip chart paper and post-its.

 

Results

The results arising from these discussion groups were wide ranging and complex. (Not all the proposals are necessarily suited to inclusion in the Local Plan.) The detailed results from all the geographical groups are listed in the appendix. However, there were several common themes relevant to the Local Plan revision coming out of all the geographical groups:

 

Common Themes

Housing:

• More social housing required.
• All new housing to be built to higher environmental standards with p.v. panels, heat pumps and high insulation levels.
• Too many second homes – Council tax should be substantially increased.
• All new housing to have all necessary services within 20 minutes walking/cycling distance.
• Retrofitting of older houses a priority.

Transport:

• More bus-only lanes, less concessions to the private car.
• More cycle paths with associated infrastructure, e.g. e-bike charging points, secure cycle storage.
• Foot and cycle path networks linking all necessary services.
• Active travel planning essential for all new developments.
• Improved public transport with greater subsidies.
• All the rural area groups agreed that there should be speed limits on the smaller rural roads to encourage cycling and deter car use. (E.g. Dartmoor, New Forest.)

Energy:

• Local Plan to focus on the identification of sites for renewable energy generation including solar and wind.
• All new homes to have solar generation.
• Identification of sites for community energy generation serving smart micro grids.

 

 

In the appendix that follows, all groups had copies of the current Local Plan maps available, but not all used them. Where the maps were used, the points made are described below.

 

Appendix – Notes from Geographical Breakout Groups

 

Rural Torridge

What facilities are missing?

• Buses – generally but that also connect with existing links, enabling students and workers evenings out ie flexibility.
• Electric vehicle infrastructure (charging points).
• Co-ordination of home deliveries and business deliveries.
• Cycle routes and facilities eg safe storage, charging points for e-bikes, safety issues on rural roads eg speed limits.
• Rail services and links.
• Affordable and social housing: at rural level, with associated amenities; policy on new builds with solar and insulation, plus retro-fitting existing housing stock.
• NHS dentists and cottage hospitals.
• Footpaths that link to services.
• Going from GDP to wellbeing metric.

Solutions

• Buses everywhere, including use of smaller minibuses and community buses, connections between towns and villages (Barnstaple to Torrington), plus between trains ie Exeter to Umberleigh.
• Electric car pools.
• Reinstate Bideford/Barnstaple rail or tram link.
• Accessibility for bikes on buses and trains.
• Higher enforcement on developers to provide community facilities ie schools/health services.

 

Map: The following spatial policies were proposed:

• Barnstaple-Bideford rail/tram link on route of Tarka Trail cycleway (keeping the cycleway),
• all housing to avoid potential flooding of valleys, e.g. located along the B3232 between Barnstaple and Great Torrington,
• link villages of Beaford, Dolton, High Bickington, Chittlehampton and Chittlehamholt to Umberleigh and/or Eggesford train stations.

 

Rural North Devon

Transport

• Reliable, affordable, safe buses.
• Railways, including freight (trucks too big).
• Exmoor Coast bus too large, needs to be more agile.
• Shared transport – cars, post buses.
• Dial-up buses, using vehicles tailored to routes.
• Speed restrictions eg Dartmoor 40mph.

Energy

• Microgrids (including all new housing estates).
• Every community should have own energy generation.
• All new homes should have pv panels.
• Local plan should identify renewable energy sites.
• Roof-based pv panels preferred, but filed-based panels should be higher off the ground to allow for grazing, cropping beneath them.

Housing

• Fewer second homes.
• Brownfield sites preferable.
• Greater variety, more smaller units.

1. Local infrastructure.

• Shops lacking local food production.
• Online shopping, smarter distribution.

 

 

 

Appledore, Northam and Westward Ho!

What facilities are missing?

• Social housing, ie Council housing, particularly rented.
• Far too many second homes (Quadruple the Council Tax or take them back).
• Jobs.
• Sewage treatment.
• Public transport.
• Cycle lanes.

How and where should they be provided?

• Devon County Council should run the buses.
• Public transport should be free or massively subsidised.
• Fairer renting with 25 year leases (as in Europe).
• The Woolacombe Community Land Trust approach to the provision of social housing for local people should be adopted.
• Re-open railway lines (or tramways).

Where should new housing go to meet local housing needs?

• In towns (no more greenfield sites).
• In 15 minute or 2000m communities.

What transport services and active travel facilities do we need to make this happen?

• Walking and cycle paths.
• Electric scooters.

Footnote: public service industries shouldn’t make money!

 

Bideford

Transport

• Buses generally – dysfunctional connections, no late buses.
• Local circular bus routes, linking discount centres.
• Poor, unsafe cycling and walking, disadvantages of hills, cycle paths not joined up.
• Every neighbourhood should have an electric car sharing hub (Local Plan requirement).

Housing and facilities

• Each large neighbourhood should have a community centre (eg Pollyfields, East the Water).
• Junior schools within easy travel.
• New housing to highest standards (Code 5), car charging, heating/solar.
• Incorporate active travel in new developments.
• Provide doctors, dentists, health centres.
• 50% of developments to be allocated for social/affordable housing.

Energy

• Local community generation, including industrial rooves.

Climate changes

• Sea level rise will affect routes and sites.

 

Map: The following spatial policies were proposed:

• Town centre needs more cycle parking,
• East the Water needs doctors surgery, more junior school provision and local retail,
• new development north of Clovelly Road needs another junior school, medical centre and community space,
• make old town centre streets one way, with wider footpaths and cycleways,
• new road and Torridge river crossing needed south of Bideford, including cycle path and wider footpaths.

 

Fremington & Yelland

What is missing?

• Health centre is under pressure.
• Schools are under pressure.
• New secondary school?
• New community centre in Bickington.
• Affordable housing.

How and where should it be provided?

• Solar farm in Yelland on approach to Yelland Quay development?
• Support for local renewable energy generation.

Where should new housing go?

• South of the B3233.
• Affordable only.
• Covenanted to avoid holiday homes.
• No further new housing at Yelland Quay, due to risk of flooding and loss of wildlife habitat.

Transport and active travel

• Speed restrictions.
• More, smaller electric shuttle buses.
• Mini-supermarket on Yelland Quay approach.
• Tourist shuttle buses to access Tarka Trail..

 

Map: The following spatial policies were proposed:

• no new build north of B3233,
• no new build in green wedge between Fremington and Bickington,
• no new build in green wedge between Yelland and Instow Town,
• solar farm, shop and tourist shuttle bus provision on Yelland Quay approach road,
• affordable housing and solar farm south of Yelland,
• public electric minibus route along minor road between Instow Town, Bickleton and Bickington.

 

Barnstaple

What facilities are missing?

• Inadequate public transport at certain times of day within the greater urban area of Barnstaple itself.
• Lack of green open space within area itself.

• Lack of green corridors and continuity of such (important for wildlife as well as humans).
• Confirmation that new-build will be to particular standards (currently adhering to standards is only assumed).
• Lack of public toilet facilities – current provision inadequate and inappropriate design to deal with abusive behaviour – drugs etc.
• Lack of provision for homeless – current provision inadequate.
• Lack of affordable housing in terms of local household income.

 

What can be done about this?

• High number of empty properties (a recent count in the High Street alone of 38!) these could be re allocated for housing.
• Councils need to have power to drive what happens to development sites (e.g., The Shapland building has not been touched for years and continues in a state of increasing decay).
• Strategic Housing Assessment should drive the planning process.
• Changes can only happen through changes to National Planning Policy.
• Provide more secure cycle storage.
• Provide a cantilevered cycle path on the upstream side of the Long Bridge.
• Priority requirements for 106 funding_ planners should be listening to the community for 106 priorities (Adequate infrastructure – Schools, Medical Centres etc).

 

Other

• Grass verges on Tarka Trail to be turned into wildflower meadows.
• Traffic-free Barnstaple (town centre).
• Reduce speed limits.
• Electric scooters.