Agenda item

The Chair introduced the item by stating that a Scrutiny Member’s briefing had previously taken place on this subject and that he was very pleased to now have this as a formal meeting agenda item. 

Alex Minshull, Sustainable City and Climate Change Manager then introduced the report to Members saying that it provided a summary of the progress made on delivery of the Bristol City Council (BCC) Ecological Emergency Action Plan (EEAP). The report identified actions within the plan that are currently being delivered and also priority actions which will need additional funding to ensure progress in a timely and effective manner. The priority projects were proposed to be funded through the use of earmarked reserves funds of £1m allocated by the administration.  The report, he said, showed good progress was being made in many areas.  Some actions were already complete and two thirds are on track.  A quarter of the actions had been delayed slightly. 

Officers were said to be planning for operational changes such as a reduction in the use of pesticides and improved land management techniques.  The action plan was a combination of short-term wins such as planting trees and strategic enabling works such as Biodiversity Net Gain.

The Chair said he was very encouraged that there were no red ratings in the action plan and thanked officers for the level of detail in the report. 

·       A Member commented that some years ago the Council had planned to severely reduce the use of pesticides, what had happened since then and how much had usage been reduced by?  Officers said they had trialled several different methods to see which was most effective. More trials were being planned and officers were said to now have the baselines to work out where to target further reductions.  Members said there were now a range of alternative options to use and it was the Council’s duty to try using them.  The Chair said that he would like to know what locations the trials were being held if possible. Officers said a project officer was currently working on this and also researching what alternatives other local authorities were using instead.  It was said this was a cultural change and there would need to be general acceptance of vegetation growing in places where it wasn’t previously but it was important to bring people along on the journey.  There would be trials during the summer and the sites would be identified. The Chair requested that the Members were kept informed about when and where the trials take place.

·       A Member referred to a pesticides study carried out by BCC in 2017 using vinegar and asked if officers thought that public perceptions have changed since then about the vegetation not being cut or sprayed in the same way as it used to be.  Officers said yes it was possible that some people’s views had changed but they still needed more people on board with the changes. They were looking at carrying out some specific public communication on this.

·       It was asked if officers were already working with community groups and were there areas that communities could take ownership of as that could potentially reduce costs?  The response was yes and communities could adopt areas of land.  It would however depend on the scale of land being adopted going forward as they were currently only small plots. There is a community support officer in the team that can help with this. Officers said they would share a link where people can register interest in areas or groups. ACTION: Useful links where interested parties can sign-up to and find out about activities and local parks and green spaces groups, to be sent to Members.

·       A Member asked about the activity matrix and the ’Red Amber Green’ (RAG) rating of 75% and asked if the work was progressing very well or could the targets have been more ambitious?  Officers said there were some actions they were confident of delivering and some not so. The important thing was to focus on the corporate targets these actions are aiming to deliver.  The action plan showed how they were supporting delivery of the One City targets. Without an action plan there wouldn’t have been so much work taking place.  It was added that there were now a number of teams working on this plan that crossed many services in the Council as well as those outside of the Council.

·       Members again raised the issue the methodology for measuring the tree canopy and said that if a way of measuring it had not yet been agreed, would that not undermine confidence? Officers said they were currently looking into this i.e., either measure backwards what’s grown or measure forwards what should have grown. It was confirmed that there was a loss in the number of mature trees. The Council had been very busy planting trees but it was the losses of mature ones that was said to be difficult to catch up with. Members agreed that there were many who thought there was a reduction in the number of mature trees. 

·       ‘Living roofs’  were discussed and it was suggested there was wider enthusiasm for more of them.  Officers agreed and said they were looking at sites where they would make the most difference such as helping to link up areas.  Bus stops were highlighted but it was said they may not be close enough to other habitat to be effective but there were some good examples to consider going forward.

·       Members raised ‘inequalities in accessing nature’ and asked what activities were planned to start to address them? Officers said house prices in Bristol can be linked to amount of green spaces in each area and they were looking to see how more green spaces could be provide in some areas, such as how to repurpose and transform empty sites.  There were currently small grants available that could be applied for to transform spaces.  There were also other programmes coming forward such as Liveable Neighbourhoods which could re-purpose land in areas.  

The Chair positively commented on the amount progress was being made, however he also suggested there could be more ambition in the next stage to tackle the Ecological Emergency and not be complacent.

Members thanked officers for their time and the positive work that was being undertaken.