Agenda item

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

Question submitted by Plastic Free Chesterfield:

“The newly formed group, ‘Plastic Free Chesterfield’, which is part of the larger group ‘Surfers Against Sewage’, is aiming to reduce the avoidable use of single use plastic. We feel that as Chesterfield Borough Council has declared a Climate Emergency it is vitally important that the Council addresses the issue of avoidable single use plastic. At a recent event we found the public overwhelmingly in support of our aims.

We therefore ask what action the Council is taking or proposing to take in respect of the following aspects:

·        What actions has the Council taken to date to reduce its own use of single use plastic and what plans are in place to change to more sustainable solutions;

·        Acting as an exemplar; encouraging all local businesses to avoid the use of single use plastic where possible;

·        Providing better information for residents as to how they can consider ‘Refuse Reduce Re-use Recyle’ in relation to their plastic use, e.g. clearer promotion of alternatives to single use plastic or recycling facilities.”

Question submitted by Daniel Botham:

"Climate change is only one of the many challenges we are facing, another big challenge is loss of biodiversity. What strategies does the Council have for protecting and increasing biodiversity in the borough?”

Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question had been submitted by Plastic Free Chesterfield:

“The newly formed group, ‘Plastic Free Chesterfield’, which is part of the larger group ‘Surfers Against Sewage’, is aiming to reduce the avoidable use of single use plastic. We feel that as Chesterfield Borough Council has declared a Climate Emergency it is vitally important that the Council addresses the issue of avoidable single use plastic. At a recent event we found the public overwhelmingly in support of our aims.

We therefore ask what action the Council is taking or proposing to take in respect of the following aspects:

·        What actions has the Council taken to date to reduce its own use of single use plastic and what plans are in place to change to more sustainable solutions;

·        Acting as an exemplar; encouraging all local businesses to avoid the use of single use plastic where possible;

·        Providing better information for residents as to how they can consider ‘Refuse Reduce Re-use Recyle’ in relation to their plastic use, e.g. clearer promotion of alternatives to single use plastic or recycling facilities.”

Councillor A Serjeant, Deputy Leader, provided a verbal response, referring to:

·        the Council having switched from single use plastic items to sustainable alternatives where these were available in its own premises;

·        the Chesterfield Climate Emergency Working Group, which would be reviewing the approach to single use plastic taken by the Council and more broadly within the town;

·        the Council acting as an advocate with its partners and stakeholders to encourage businesses, retailers and residents to reduce the use of single use plastic.

Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question was asked by Daniel Botham:

"Climate change is only one of the many challenges we are facing; another big challenge is loss of biodiversity. What strategies does the Council have for protecting and increasing biodiversity in the borough?”

Councillor A Serjeant, Deputy Leader, provided a verbal response, referring to:

·         The Council’s history of bringing back into use former industrial and mining sites to include habitats for a wide range of species, such as the country parks at Poolsbrook and Holmebrook Valley and the Enterprise Zone at Markham Vale;

·         The strategic objective within the existing and emerging Local Plans to promote a net gain in biodiversity;

·        The network of Local Nature Reserves provided through a Service Level Agreement with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust (DWT) and the ‘Chesterfield Greenprint’, a document jointly prepared with DWT identifying priority habitats and species for protection;

·        The Council’s planning policies providing protection for priority habitats and species and seeking a net gain of biodiversity on all new development;

·        Revised grass cutting regimes to encourage wilder areas to grow, providing a habitat for biodiversity, and seeking to minimize the Council’s use of herbicides.