www.dacenvforum.org.uk

Dacorum Environmental Forum

Full Meeting – 17 January 2008

MINUTES

Attendance

Phil Pennington	DEF Chairman
Douglas Walker	Resident, DEF Vice Chairman
Garrick Stevens	Berkhamsted Town Council
Fleur Tucker	Berkhamsted Town Council
Adrienne Gear	Community Action Dacorum
Andy Hardstaff	Countryside Management Service
Cllr Alan Anderson	Dacorum Borough Council
Richard Blackburn	Dacorum Borough Council
Cllr Bert Chapman	Dacorum Borough Council
Ruth Chapman	Dacorum Borough Council
Cllr Neil Harden	Dacorum Borough Council
Cllr Suqlaim Mahmood	Dacorum Borough Council
Lizzy Savage	Dacorum Borough Council
Don Palmer	Dacorum Borough Council
Veronica Allan	Friends of the Earth
Jean Blackman	Friends of the Earth
G Darvill	Friends of the Earth
O Darvill	Friends of the Earth
Paul Harris	Friends of the Earth
Alan Johnson	Green Party/Great Gaddesden Parish Council
Hazel Johnson	Green Party
Chris Jones	Hemel Hempstead Churches
Rudolf Kirst	Hemel Hempstead GM Action Group
Dennis Harvey	Hemel Nature
Sylvia Davidson	Water Group
Roger Hands	Water Group/Box Moor Trust
Norman Cutting	Berkhamsted Citizens’ Association
John Lythgoe	Berkhamsted Town Council
Emma Norrington	Groundwork/Resident
Gruff Edwards	New Conservation Society

1. Apologies

John Boielle	Tring Cycling Campaign
Mary Dyson	Lions Club Berkhamsted
Alex Evans	Lions Club Berkhamsted
David Nobbs	Chipperfield Parish Council
Guy Patterson	Chiltern Society

2. Welcome

Phil Pennington welcomed everybody to the meeting.

Phil Pennington expressed his great sadness at the death of Michael Blackman, one of the founding members of DEF, and expressed his sympathy to Mrs Blackman who was attending the meeting.

3. Minutes from the Meeting held on 25 October 2007 and Matters Arising

The minutes from the meeting held on 25 October 2007 were approved. Lizzy Savage confirmed that the minutes could be found on the DEF website.

There were no matters arising.

4. Reduction of Packaging in Dacorum

Gruff Edwards of the New Conservation Society and a member of the Waste Management Working Group presented the campaign to reduce packaging. Gruff will be giving a presentation to the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee in March. In his presentation he reported that 16% of household waste was packaging which also contributed to the litter problem. A list of questions to be put to local retailers was given and the Forum was asked to suggest additional questions. Store Managers would be invited to attend the DEF. A further report would be given to the DEF detailing any responses received from retailers.

Questions and Answers

Q. A prototype for recycling plastic had been around for some time. Was this any further forward?

R. Some Councils had innovative schemes. The DEF was concentrating on contacting store managers to encourage them to use less packaging.

Q. It was suggested that supermarkets should have an ‘Anti plastic bag week.’

R. This was on the list of items to be brought up under reusable shopping bags. Staff training was also required.

Q. Central Government should insist that only recyclable packaging should be used.

R. That is in the list of questions.

Q. Bottles should be returnable. Plastic waste was mostly bottles.

R. Promotional glass containers was on the list.

Q. Holland was very strict about recycling. Stronger leadership was required and children in school should receive proper instruction on recycling.

R. It was difficult to get people in power to take responsibility.

Lizzy Savage reported that cotton reusable fair trade bags were on order to both promote DEF and the current campaign. Lizzy urged more members to get involved in this campaign.

Phil Pennington felt that the Steering Group had been very proactive since the last meeting.

Recommendation

That the draft letter to be sent to supermarkets be taken to the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee for their approval.

5. Carbon Neutrality – Work in Bennetts End

Don Palmer, Bennetts End Estate Warden, detailed a proposal to make Dacorum the first Borough in England to achieve the lowest carbon footprint or to become carbon neutral. Ashton Hayes Parish Council (Cheshire) first launched a project in 2006 to encourage the community to think about how they impact on climate change and CO2 emissions. The launch involved the local authority as well as the community. Grants have been awarded from DEFRA and they have received backing to complete a renewable power station for the village.

Don’s proposal was that every ward would challenge another to reduce its carbon footprint. Hertfordshire University would be invited to count the carbon footprint and then return after, say, a year to calculate any saving. Examples of how to save would be; reusing plastic bags, walking to the shops and buying local foods. Project Leaders would be required and Don suggested that Ward Councillors would be ideal. There would be no cost involved. The website giving an example of this project is:

www.goingcarbonneutral.co.uk

Don suggested that Bennetts End and Highfield should pilot the scheme due to current links already in place; and this could encourage Berkhamsted, Boxmoor etc. Don asked that everybody should go out and push for improvements in their areas.

Questions and Answers

Q. How can this be measured?

R. Schools were teaching children how to calculate their carbon footprints. It was hoped that students would carry out the measurements. Encouragement was required for everybody to want to be the first carbon neutral house. The scheme must not cost anybody any money and it must not be compulsory.

Q. In Berkhamsted the Environment Committee tried to encourage the Town Council to do something by using the same example. Berkhamsted Town Council had agreed to set up a Working Party and would be bringing in two experts to act as external advisors to get them started. HCC had run a workshop for schools. Astley Cooper School was one of the best examples in the country for reducing energy use (they have a wind turbine).

R. Wallpaper solar panels would be in production next year.

Outcome

Phil Pennington stated that the challenge had been set and DEF supported it.

6. Tree Warden Scheme

Ruth Chapman, Trees and Woodlands Manager, showed a Tree Council environmentally friendly, reusable bag to the Forum. Ruth then explained the Tree Warden Scheme, which was a project run by the Tree Council (UK wide) to encourage volunteers to get involved in trees in their local area. This scheme was launched in 1990 in response to the great storm of l987 and was originally parish based but it was now felt that it was required in urban areas. An informal Woodland Warden Scheme has been running for some time aimed at urban woodlands but now the Tree Council was promoting the scheme for the urban areas. An article would be in the Spring Dacorum Digest with a formal launch on 17 April in the Council Chamber.

The Tree Council have produced a Tree Warden handbook and the Countryside Management Service was giving support for training in tree identification, leading walks, monitoring trees on development sites and identifying special trees and hedges in specific areas. A letter will be sent to all members of the DEF giving more information and inviting them to the launch on 17 April.

Questions and Answers

Q. Is this scheme to protect trees or to chop them down?

R. People generally like to save trees, but there were cases where people did not want them near their homes if they were causing problems. The Council carries out routine inspections. The Tree Wardens would be required to identify trees that were significant to local people and to inform the Council about them to enable them to be recorded and promoted. The Tree Wardens could also suggest planting sites.

Q. Can the Council protect trees that are currently deemed not worth protecting?

R. There are many trees in private properties that are worth protecting but can only be protected by TPOs when threatened. It may be worth identifying trees that were worth keeping.

Q. Concern was expressed that trees were cut down to enable back garden development.

R. If significant trees in back gardens were identified, they could be protected if back garden development was being considered.

Q. Trees in public parks were often damaged by the grass mowers.

R. The Council would try to limit this damage.

Councillor Chapman suggested that wards could organise health walks to encourage residents to see that ‘trees matter.’ The more knowledge gathered on trees that can be passed on, the better it is for everybody. Councillor Chapman gave his support to the scheme.

7. Water Group

Roger Hands from the Dacorum Environmental Forum Water Group gave a brief presentation, which included an option study related to the River Gade Sustainability Study. Roger Hands highlighted the DEFWG website now being developed but not yet live.

From the findings of the Flood Risk Assessment (requested by DBC, Watford, St Albans and Three Rivers), Dacorum is fairly clear of flood risk with the biggest problems being outside of the borough. Gadebridge Park was flooded but it was not a ‘flooding’ flood, it was an indication that the water table was waterlogged. DBC would commission another report in the future.

Richard Blackburn, Development Plans Manager, detailed the recommendations in the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment and a brief was circulated. It was noted that the sentence before last of the brief should read ‘Within and around these areas it is important that effective flood risk management policies are implemented and that future development does not contribute to increased flood risk.’

There had been concern about the sewage works – it was important to keep the water released to supply the canal. A decision had been made to invest in the Berkhamsted sewage works. A large reed bed was being put in place to purify the discharged water from Berkhamsted and to be a wetland area for birds. This was a positive move forward. The Countryside Management Service was assisting in establishing a website that would be available in the near future. This would highlight some of the issues currently being visited. Roger asked for suggestions for improvements to the website.

Questions and Answers

Q. What is the situation with water harvesting?

R. Water harvesting was very important. Water scarcity was dealt with last year. There would be pages on the website on these issues. It was hoped to get the whole population involved.

Q. What was the environmental impact of Buncefield on water in Hemel Hempstead?

R. This was a major concern and the final report was awaited. There was a website on Buncefield.

Phil Pennington confirmed that the website had a lot of helpful documents on it. The Water Group was very active.

8. Dacorum Partnership

Andy Hardstaff stated that the Dacorum Community Plan had been published. The action plan would be circulated with the minutes. The Dacorum Partnership has a work programme to refresh the Community Plan, which has to be presented to them next January 2009. A working group would be set up to work on this.

9. Any Other Business

Hemel Hempstead GM Action Group – Public Consultation

Rudolph Kirst expressed concern about the future of nuclear power, the managing of radioactive waste and decision making on GM crops by the European Commission.

Uranium will last for 30 – 40 years, radioactive waste will take hundreds to thousands of years to become neutral and will cost £20 billion to achieve. There was no waste disposal plan in place. The Government of the 1960s had no policies on nuclear waste. There was no ethical or beneficial future for nuclear power.

Rudolph Kirst had responded to the consultation on behalf of the Hemel Hempstead GM Action Group.

Bus Services in Dacorum

Paul Harris of Friends of the Earth expressed concerns about the cuts to bus services in Dacorum as public transport was needed to make Dacorum a sustainable borough – these cuts affected key services in Tring, Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead. Carbon taxation on cars and packaging would be brought in from May 2009.

Councillor Chapman, Environmental Services Portfolio Holder, stated that the Council had a statutory responsibility to provide free bus passes for the over 60s. This was costing DBC £500,000 - £600,000 and was under financed by the Government. The Council had budget problems and difficult decisions had to be made. Funding the bus service was a Herts County Council statutory responsibility and DBC could not afford to fund non statutory items. Discussions were taking place and HCC had been given 14 months notice of this action. Councillor Chapman objected to how it had been reported in the Gazette.

Councillor Anderson stated that no bus routes had yet been cut. The Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee had discussed the issue in considerable detail and the minutes of that meeting would be distributed to the members of the Forum for information. Detailed negotiations were going on between the two authorities regarding this. Some bus routes were hardly used and HCC needed to address this issue as the statutory body. Any alternative income identified would be used for the Council’s difficult budgetary situation.

Outcome

Phil Pennington agreed that this should be put on the next agenda.

Regional Spatial Strategy – East of England Plan

Richard Blackburn stated that this had been put back and would be completed by the end of February – early March. Richard hoped to report back then to outline the implications.

10. Next Meeting Date

Election of a new Chair and Vice-Chair will be on the next agenda.

The next meeting of the Dacorum Environmental Forum will be on Thursday 27 March 2008 at 7.30 p.m., Council Chamber, Civic Centre.

Note: The Agendas and Minutes from the Dacorum Environment Forum meetings can be found on the Dacorum Environmental Forum website www.dacenvforum.org.uk