At the discretion of the Chair, a period of up to 15 minutes may be allocated at each ordinary meeting for members of the public to make representations or to ask questions on matters within the terms of reference of the Committee. No member of the public shall speak for more than five minutes in the Open Forum, except by permission of the Chair.
Please note: Members of the public are asked to submit a video of their question or statement to climate.emergency@leeds.gov.uk by 5pm on the 19th of September 2024.
Minutes:
At the discretion of the Chair, a period of up to 15 minutes may be allocated at each ordinary meeting for members of the public to make representations or to ask questions on matters within the terms of reference of the Committee. No member of the public shall speak for more than five minutes in the Open Forum, except by permission of the Chair.
The following submissions were made as part of the Open Forum:
Boston Spa Energy Efficiency Trial (BEET)
The issue of high voltage management within Boston Spa had previously been presented to the Committee as part of an Open Forum submission and had significantly developed, leading to the establishment of BEET. The local resident providing the deputation had served within the electricity industry, including roles in voltage management and designing networks. Upon identifying that households within Boston Spa had been experiencing high voltage levels, a challenge had been posed to the industry and electricity providers that needed to be addressed. Following research and dialogue BEET was developed which currently covered over 10,000 buildings across the Wetherby Ward, to safely decrease the voltage levels and overall energy usage. BEET had created an average of 4% savings on electricity bills for local homes and businesses, as well as reducing emissions through reduction in power usage and increased network capacity. Regulations did not include a requirement for providers to monitor voltage levels unless complaints were received but the issue had become apparent, assisted by the rollout of smart meters. The issue had been revealed to the regulator and the Northern Power Grid, with a project team developed in response in order to feed data back to primary sub stations where alterations can then automatically made. BEET had been commissioned on the 15th of January 2024 and so far, had been successful. The programme was to be built into Northern Power Grid business plans with a further roll out across the grid; it was hoped that the trail would influence other providers and amend regulations.
To supplement the deputisation, a video was played for Members to outline the rollout and processes for the BEET programme through the Northern Power Grid.
The Chair gave her thanks for the fascinating work and would be in contact to assist with further questions and promotion of the programme, alongside other Committee Members.
Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
As part of the National Education Nature Park programme, the Senior Programme Officer for Yorkshire and the Humber RHS, and local contact for the institution, provided details for upcoming events and ways to promote and engage with the events. The programme was launched on the 4th of October 2023 and was partnered with a number of larger organisations, being led by the Natural History Museum and commissioned by the Department for Education. The broad goals for the programme were to increase bio-diversity within the sites of educational institutions, facilitating climate based learning and outdoor education for children of all school ages. There were over 3000 education institutions engaged with over 1400 having confirmed their site boundaries which were needed to confirm land ownership and map natural features which could be enhanced or developed; notable habitats were grouped by area designation. For Yorkshire there were over 380 education institutions signed up, with 50 of them being within Leeds. The programme was student led and was to be run until summer 2027 with nature park grants of up to £10,000 being administered through the RHS, with further additions available after initial grants. 29 settings eligible for grants had been identified in Leeds, with the closing date for new applications noted as the 27th of March 2025. There was also the Climate Ambassador, Sustainability Support for Education and Let’s go Zero 2030 programmes which linked to the National Education Nature Park programme. Members were encouraged to spread the word and to connect local schools to the programme.
Links for eligibility criteria and further details were provided:
National Education Nature Park website:
https://www.educationnaturepark.org.uk/
Nature Park Grants Eligibility list and criteria:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nature-park-and-climate-action-awards-funding-allocations
Nature Park grant FAQ:
Climate Ambassadors:
https://climateambassadors.org.uk/
Sustainability Support for Education:
https://www.sustainabilitysupportforeducation.org.uk/
Let’s Go Zero:
Contact the Yorkshire Nature Park team (Jen Horseman/Jen Davies):
yorkshirenaturepark@rhs.org.uk
The Chair outlined she had scheduled to meet with the Senior Programme Officer and Climate Ambassadors and Members outlined they would contact local schools and provide further details accordingly.