Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Downes and Rafique. Councillor Millar attended as substitute for Councillor Rafique.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

No declarations of interest were made.

To note the meeting notes of the Consultative Meetings of Members of the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee held on 23^rd January 2023.

RECOMMENDED – To agree the notes of the previous consultative meeting held 23^rd January 2023 as a correct record.

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 4 p.m. on

Incredible Edible – Dan Robinson provided the Committee with an overview of the work of Incredible Edible (IE), a food growing project which aims to connect communities through food. IE had established a number of groups in Leeds over the past 15 years. IE had recently received National Lottery funding to support the Leeds groups and secured Community Interest Company (CIC) status 12 months ago. 

Planters of different shapes and sizes are used, some include public art and some re-use materials such as railway sleepers or old pallets. The best locations for planters are areas of high footfall but also close to homes where residents will adopt and maintain the planter. IE works with schools, care homes and businesses and has established a partnership with Northern Rail where some stations are home to edible planters.

Discussions with Members focussed on the following matters:

Barriers to establishing a group - Anti-social behaviour and vandalism does occur, but the ethos of IE is that people should take the food – you may only need a handful of herbs or tomatoes and not a pack from the supermarket, and, if someone learns something about the food they have ‘stolen’ then IE has connected with them in some way.

Locations - IE are mapping public land available in the city and worked with Council departments to identify locations. In response to a query about the use of highway verges, the Chief Highways and Transportation Officer outlined that people seeking to plant on highways would usually require a license and he had contacted colleagues in other Local Authorities to review their approach.

Local Parish Councils – IE was encouraged to contact Parish Councils in the outer areas of the city to start discussions with them on establishing planters.

Finance - IE was reviewing what long term funding would look like and how it could support the community leaders element of the project.

The Committee noted the contents of the presentation and agreed that the presentation slides and contact details be provided to Members and the Executive Manager, Flood Risk & Climate Resilience, to support future discussions. Members also noted that this issue had previously been discussed by the Food & Biodiversity Working Group and would be progressed through the Food Strategy and linked to the “Right to Grow” work.

Open Forum Updates – CEAC received an update on previous topics raised under the Open Forum item and it was agreed that Departmental responses to Open Forum representations would be shared with Members.

To receive a verbal update on the progress of the Committees’ working groups to date

Members noted the following:

·  No Working Groups had met since the last CEAC meeting

·  Issues with emailing WG invitations to all Members of Council were being worked through, and as a result, the proposed 11/07/23 Economy & Finance WG may be postponed to ensure all Members can receive the invitation.

To receive the report of the Executive Manager for Flood Risk and Climate Resilience which reflects on the year since the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy was launched, and provides a summary of the future planned measures.

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Manager, Flood Risk and Climate Resilience, on the implementation of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy. The report examined the implementation of the Strategy over the last 12 months and provided a summary of the measures proposed for the years ahead.

Jonathan Moxon, Executive Manager, Flood Risk & Climate Resilience, attended the meeting and highlighted the work of the Flood Risk Management (FRM) Team within the Highways and Transportation Service which manages flood risk through planning, Incident Management and also operates/builds assets and manages risks and works with the Climate, Energy and Green Spaces Team on climate and adaption.

The Committee received a presentation highlighting works undertaken in the previous 12 months, measures proposed and issues to consider:

Weather - Through images of flooding, the Committee heard that climate change increased the likelihood of more frequent and more significant flooding. Globally, more unpredictable weather has been experienced with warmer, drier summers and wetter winters. The team collects and tracks data on rainfall incidents and events to inform planning, rainfall is tracked by catchment areas and the team focuses on those incidents which adversely affect blue light incident highway routes, and internal/or external property flooding.

Planning Process – The FRM team is a statutory consultee on planning applications and process on average 150 planning applications a month. Works such as the review of Sheepscar Beck assets where the walls are in private ownership, are managed through planning applications as they are submitted. It is expected that Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act, relating to Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDS) will be enacted in 2024 which will require input from the team. This will have an impact on the local authority and resource planning and discussions with colleagues in other Yorkshire Local Authorities had begun to consider how to implement the changes collectively.

SUDS Approving Body (SAB) – Schedule 3 will bring a new assurance process alongside the planning process which will require developers to obtain both planning approval and a SAB approval. The FRM team will have a statutory consultee role along with other water, sewerage companies and the Environment Agency. SAB requirements will affect developments of more than 1 property/100 sqm and will amend Section 106 of the Water Industry Act 1991 which manages how new development connections are made to existing sewers/drainage systems.

Flood Alleviation Scheme Capital Programme – In respect of FAS Phase1 in the city centre, downstream of the station, this scheme was now operational with duty teams on call 24/7. The area is now managed through the weirs and prevents flooding in the city centre. New technology which is used to monitor /predict flow and collect data is being considered to replace existing which can be damaged by the water and rubbish.

FAS Phase 2 is being delivered and managed along the Aire by the FRM team through powers delegated by the Environment Agency and will protect the city against a flood on the scale of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To receive the report of the Chief Planning Officer which provides an update on the latest work on the Local Plan Update, as well as highlights of the Regulation 19 consultation.

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Planning Officer which provided an update on progress with the Leeds Local Plan Update (‘Your Neighbourhood, Your City, Your Planet’), and an overview of responses received to the Publication draft consultation, actions underway in response and an update on next steps

Adam Harvatt, Group Manager, Policy and Plans, attended the meeting and in acknowledging that Members were keen for the Plan to be submitted to Government and adopted, highlighted that the issues and policies within the Plan required careful consideration prior to submission.

The following matters were highlighted:

Consultation

·  From October to December 2022, consultation on specific policies was undertaken using various approaches including drop-in sessions at libraries, shopping centres, presentations to Community Committees, and web based activity through video, webinars, Facebook and social media adverts. 170,000 people viewed the material with approximately 9000 views of the website.

·  550 representations were received from across all wards of the city – 400 smart surveys, 90 emails and 45 Young People surveys.

·  Feedback on the methods of consultation showed 86% respondents responded positively.

·  Overall there was strong public support for the contents of the Plan – every policy received over 80% support and nearer 90% support for the flood risk policies. Objections were also reported from some developers, the Environment Agency and Natural England.

Specific Policies – the Committee was directed to comments on each of the Policies, with highlights outlined below:

SP0 (zero) – This policy sets out the Council’s zero carbon aspiration. Some negative responses were expressed that it was too prescriptive and repeated other policies.

EN1a & b – Developers will be required to consider zero carbon across the whole lifetime of a development. Some had expressed concerns over the level of burden placed on them and the capacity in the industry and supply chains to meet the net zero target. Officers had discussed this with developers and consideration would be given to how and if flexibility can be built in. 

EN4 Renewable – A mix of views that this was too soon or didn’t go far enough were received as well as the need to focus on small scale renewable projects and how to support them. Natural England raised the impact of wind turbines on bird migration and this will require further work as the Council does not hold that evidence.

Water Policies – The proposed policies build on existing measures to ensure safe access/egress for flooded site/homes, to incorporate an assessment of the risk of defences failing and what happens in that instance and to ensure SUDS and storage are used and feed into the SABs. “Water 8” also considered the use of permeable materials and soft landscaping when people reconfigure their gardens/drives. Work could be undertaken with the FRM Team to review guidance.

Green & Blue Infrastructure – The policies relating to green and blue infrastructure form a crucial part of mitigation for climate change and include a requirement for a Green and Blue Infrastructure assessment to support development. They  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To note that the date and time of the next meeting of the Committee is the 18^th September 2023 at 2pm.

RECOMMENDED – To note the date and time of the next meeting as 18^th September 2023 at 2.00 pm.