Agenda item

To receive questions from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order No. 12.

Question submitted by Lisa Hopkinson, Transition Town Chesterfield:

“Given that road transport is the biggest single source of carbon emissions as well as deadly roadside nitrogen dioxide pollution, and given that the majority of cars on the road over the next 10 years will still be petrol or diesel, what is the borough council doing to encourage less car-based development and reduce car use in the borough generally, for the benefits of all residents particularly children and the elderly?”

Question submitted by Alastair Meikle, Secretary, Chesterfield Cycle Campaign :

“Cycling is an effective way to cut carbon emissions and increase the amount of physical activity, benefitting the environment and public health. Will Chesterfield Borough Council fully commit to supporting and insisting upon cycling infrastructure both within new developments and connections outside developments to the wider Chesterfield Cycle network to allow citizens an opportunity to have a choice to not use private cars for local journeys?”

Question submitted by Darryl Cowley:

“Tree planting is one of the most cost effective ways to capture carbon from the atmosphere. Has the council done an assessment of the potential for tree planting on its land and would it be willing to facilitate opportunities for volunteers and the community to undertake large scale tree planting on council land?”

Question submitted by Roger Green:

“The installation over the past few weeks of electric vehicle charging points in the Soresby Street, Durrant Road and St Mary's Gate car parks in Chesterfield is very welcome and has at last overcome the reputation the town has had of being a desert when it came to refuelling an electric vehicle. However, in the cases of Durrant Road and St Mary's Gate, allowing non-electric vehicles to park in the spaces with chargers, in a 'mixed use' arrangement, and having only one space reserved specifically for an electric vehicle, is already leading to the majority of the spaces being taken up by diesel or petrol vehicles. This means that most of the chargers will scarcely be used, thus wasting the public money presumably spent on installing them. As they are slow chargers, drivers plugging in will want to stay there for several hours to get a decent amount of charge, further restricting the availability for other electric vehicles, if the mixed use spaces are occupied by conventional vehicles. My question is: Will the council therefore consider reserving most, if not all, of these spaces with chargers, for electric vehicles, therefore allowing them to be used for the purpose intended, and not merely as parking for non-electric vehicles?”

Under Standing Order No. 12, the following questions were asked:

(1)         by Lisa Hopkinson, Transition Town Chesterfield:

“Given that road transport is the biggest single source of carbon emissions as well as deadly roadside nitrogen dioxide pollution and given that the majority of cars on the road over the next 10 years will still be petrol or diesel, what is the Borough Council doing to encourage less car-based development and reduce car use in the borough generally, for the benefits of all residents particularly children and the elderly?”

Councillor T Gilby, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, provided a verbal response, referring to:

·        the Council’s Local Plan seeking to concentrate new development within walking and cycling distance of existing centres and on sites in need of regeneration, to provide residents, employees and visitors with healthier and more sustainable travel choices;

·        conditions being placed on all new developments requiring the provision of Electric Vehicle Charging facilities to encourage take up of these vehicles;

·        working with partners to enhance the strategic walking and cycling network.

Lisa Hopkinson asked a supplementary question as to whether the Council would commit to publishing an air quality action plan in the next three months.

Councillor T Gilby agreed to provide a written response.

(2)         by Alastair Meikle, Secretary, Chesterfield Cycle Campaign:

“Cycling is an effective way to cut carbon emissions and increase the amount of physical activity, benefitting the environment and public health. Will Chesterfield Borough Council fully commit to supporting and insisting upon cycling infrastructure both within new developments and connections outside developments to the wider Chesterfield cycle network to allow citizens an opportunity to have a choice to not use private cars for local journeys?”

Councillor T Gilby, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, provided a verbal response, referring to:

·        the Council’s Local Plan seeking toensure that new developments were within walking and cycling distance of town and district shopping centres and key facilities wherever possible;

·        aiming to secure contributions from developers where improvements were required to make links to the strategic walking and cycling network;

·        working closely with partners to continue to improve and expand the town’s and borough’s strategic cycling network and links to national routes.

Alastair Meikle asked a supplementary question as to whether the Council would include Chesterfield Cycle Campaign as one of the stakeholders on the Chesterfield Climate Change working group.

Councillor P Gilby provided a verbal response confirming that the Chesterfield Cycle Campaign would be included on the working group.

(3)         by Darryl Cowley:

“Tree planting is one of the most effective ways to capture carbon from the atmosphere. Has the Council done an assessment of the potential for tree planting on its land and would it be willing to facilitate opportunities for volunteers and the community to undertake large scale tree planting on council land?”

Councillor Mannion-Brunt, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, provided a verbal response, referring to:

·        an assessment having been undertaken of the quantity, quality and potential of the Council’s existing parks and open spaces to inform current and future policy;

·        advisory and enforcement work to protect existing trees;

·        consideration of the potential for further tree planting as part of the climate change strategy, engaging with the Woodland Trust;

·        the contribution of local schools to tree planting.

(4)         by Roger Green:

“The installation over the past few weeks of electric vehicle charging points in Soresby Street, Durrant Road and St. Mary’s Gate car parks in Chesterfield is very welcome and has at last overcome the reputation the town has had of being a desert when it came to refuelling an electric vehicle. However, in the cases of Durrant Road and St. Mary’s Gate, allowing non-electric vehicles to park in spaces with the chargers in a ‘mixed use’ arrangement, and having only one space reserved specifically for an electric vehicle, is already leading to the majority of spaces being taken up by diesel or petrol vehicles. This means that most of the chargers will scarcely be used, thus wasting public money presumably spent on installing them. As they are slow chargers, drivers plugging in will want to stay there for several hours to get a decent amount of charge, further restricting availability for other electric vehicles, if the mixed use spaces are occupied by conventional vehicles. My question is – will the Council therefore consider reserving most, if not all, of these spaces with chargers for electric vehicles, therefore allowing them to be used for the purpose intended and not merely as parking for non-electric vehicles?”

Councillor J Innes, Cabinet Member for Business Transformation and Customers, provided a verbal response, referring to:

·        19 electric vehicle charging points to be shortly available in the town centre at St Mary’s Gate, Soresby Street, Durrant Road and the new Saltergate multi-storey car park, with 11 of these for electric vehicle use only and with potential to increase these further;

·        the possible charging times of different charging points ranging from 40 minutes to four hours;

·        the potential to convert the mixed use bays to electric vehicle only bays over time as demand increases, based on monitoring of use.

Roger Green asked a supplementary question as to whether the Council could have done more to ensure that an electric vehicle charging point was included at the new Lidl store.

Councillor P Gilby agreed to provide a written response.