(i) Public Statements
(ii) Public Questions
Minutes:
Public Statements
A number of members of the public had requested to address the Council.
Councillor Clark Mitchell, Mr Lewis-Creser and Mr Padwick spoke in favour of the Council supporting Motion 2 as detailed on the agenda.
Mr Lewis-Creser, Mr Padwick, Mr Lyman and Councillor O’Brien spoke in favour of the Council supporting Motion 3 as detailed on the agenda.
Public Questions
Question 1 - A question had been submitted by a local resident, Ms Clayson which read -
“Can we look at making communities sustainable? I live in Thorpe Malsor, lots of properties on oil heating. How about community biogas plants, powered by our organic waste? Solar panels on all council properties as well as private or rental. Imagine this across all the borough’s micro communities!”
Councillor Pentland (Executive Member – Climate Change and Green Environment) responded -
“The Council’s climate change framework agreed in March this year by the Shadow Executive (and also on the Council Agenda this evening) sets out a range of activities to develop and work up into action plans. Amongst them are:
· Develop baseline data on energy efficiency performance of all of the council’s housing stock and reduce the financial impact for tenants in relation to fuel bills
· Improving housing standards across the whole of the area, by investing in, or partnering to deliver more energy efficient, cheaper to run and adaptable homes
· Investigate the benefits of a heating network
All of this will require detailed work, investment and specialist advice to achieve these aims, but this is now being worked up by officers for future consideration”.
Solar panels have been installed in some properties, but they are not suitable for all roof types, are not necessarily cheaper for all households, and in large numbers cause issues for Western Power’s infrastructure, requiring detailed consents.
There are lots of potential initiatives as is suggested in the question and as a Council we will need to consider which interventions will give us the best environmental return set against our wider Climate Strategy”.
Question 2 - A question had been submitted by a local resident, Ms Stanger which read:
“Can the council devote time and budget to addressing the Energy Rating Certificates of properties at E and D levels, not just F? I have been landed in £2,500 debt with SSE because the energy-efficient heating the council installed in my E-rated property (meant to reduce my energy consumption) actually quadrupled it”.
Councillor Mercer (Executive Member – Housing and Community) responded -
“The Council is replacing the unsuitable electric storage heaters in a number of properties, starting next month, including those in Thorpe Malsor, with new intelligent radiators, following an experimental pilot in the use of this technology, in those houses which only have oil fired heating. The storage heating units we are taking out will be used to upgrade the communal heating in our sheltered schemes, where they will work much better.
On the wider issue of improving the energy rating of council homes, both Corby and Kettering Councils had been upgrading boilers to more efficient types for some years. The Council has begun to install district air source heat pump systems in blocks of flats, for example at Montrose House and Hamilton House in Kettering, and as part of the refurbishment of 1920s-built housing under the Homes for the Future programme.
Furthermore, we are currently replacing the electric heating and hot water systems at Harry Potter House flats with more modern and fuel-efficient systems. In addition, we are looking for additional external funding, such as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, to enable us to complete additional Green energy works to those identified in our capital programme.
A better understanding of the energy efficiency of every house in our ownership will help direct investment.
The Climate Change Framework agreed by the Shadow Executive in March acknowledges the need to continue to invest in the sustainability and affordability of our stock and the answer to a separate question at tonight’s meeting details some of the ways we can approach this.”
The Chair thanked the members of the public and councillors for their contributions.