Councillor Sally Longford - unwell

Matthew Neal

None.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 10 September 2021.

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2021 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Presentation by AECOM

Mike Bains, AECOM, delivered a presentation on new and emerging technologies in the waste sector, citing the following examples:

·  Underground Waste Collection – the use of underground communal bins to streamline waste collection from large developments. This is common in Europe and has been adopted in some UK developments. It is space-effective and hygienic, but can be costly to install and to procure new vehicles.

·  Carbon Capture and Storage – the capture of carbon from new and existing Energy from Waste plants. This will be a requirement for all new plants and existing plants will need to be retrofitted by the late 2020s, so AECOM is currently looking at the most efficient methods.

·  Chemical recycling of Plastics – recycling of lower grade and contaminated plastics chemically rather than mechanically, using heat pressure or steam to break down the chemical structures. This is not as efficient as mechanical recycling and can be technically complex but should reduce the amount of plastics going into landfill.

·  Waste Sorting Robots - use of artificial intelligence and robotics to sort and separate waste. This has upfront costs but ongoing savings. It reduces employment of workers in recycling facilities.

·  Waste to Fuels – Conversion of waste to liquid or gas fuel for off-site use (e.g. jetfuel). Various facilities are planned around the UK. It is not a straightforward process but there is a lot of work going into it currently.

Although there is government support through Innovation Funds, the majority of this technology and research is funded commercially through investors.

The following points were made during the discussion which followed the presentation:

(a)  underground recycling is only practical in new developments and would not be practical in high density areas of the city centre such as the Lace Market;

(b)  technology from outside the UK should be looked at more seriously, for example computer recycling in Tennessee and gold eating microbes in New Zealand. Nottingham was developing facilities for gasification and anaerobic digestion but no longer does this. There are real opportunities for the region it is a pioneer in developing technologies;

(c)  there must continue to be a focus on waste reduction, rather than relying on conversion of waste to jet-fuel for example, however it is still better if waste is reused and recycled.

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

Stephen Pointer, Nottinghamshire County Council, presented the report and delivered a presentation which highlighted the following:

(a)  a draft version of the Waste Local Plan is currently under consultation before formal consultation. This stage is not statutory but was decided to be a good idea. The draft plan was circulated to Committee members by email. Response to the Issues and Options consultation last year was broadly positive, and informed the ideas of larger facilities, a flexible approach with changing technologies, and a preference for site criteria to guide future development;

(b)   a Waste Needs Assessment was commissioned from AECOM which was discussed at a previous meeting. This has informed the Plan’s ambition to go beyond a simple need for additional landfill, and to become a circular economy with disposal as a last resort. The first Strategic Priority of the Plan is for all new development to be designed, constructed and operated to minimise waste and maximise recycling;

(c)  the draft Plan will be launched formally in January, with the final plan ready in Autumn 2022. This will go to both Councils for approval.

Resolved to note the progress on the production of the Waste local Plan.

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

James Ashton, Transport Strategy Manager, Nottingham City Council, presented the report and highlighted the following:

(a)  Nottingham City Council was awarded £18m through the levelling up fund for its Renewing Local Streets programme. This programme will target neighbourhoods that will benefit most from an uplift in the streets where people live. It has three elements:

·  Streets for People -  minor works to improve the condition of existing footways, repairing potholes in streets and cycle ways, installation of more dropped crossing to help people with mobility impairments, subway treatments as well as adding in new links where required to improve access to local centres.

·  School Streets - Building on the success of the Active Travel Fund programme that has put in place trial measures to encourage more walking, scooting and cycling to schools during lockdown, work with residents and schools will be expanded to make more areas around school entrances safer, with less traffic and more inviting approach routes.

·  Greener Streets - a large scale upgrade of our street lighting to bring the lamps up to modern LED standard. It will be applied on an area wide basis and contribute to significant energy savings whilst maintaining high quality lighting standards.

(b)  a Bus Service Improvement Plan was developed and submitted to government, covering the Greater Nottingham geography of the Robin Hood Ticketing area, reflecting how passengers use the network locally. The Plan includes:

·  Upgrading of LED real time public transport display for Greater Nottingham

·  New city bus priority systems for traffic lights;

·  Upgrading of bus shelters in the districts together with Robin Hood branding and standardisation of all bus stops

·  Bus Priority and bus rapid transport schemes

·  Measures to address bus pinch points

·  Electrification of Nottingham City Transport single decker bus fleet.

(c)  usage of the car club fell sharply during 2020 due to lockdown restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic but is now returning to pre-pandemic levels (See and as a result the Council is working with Enterprise to expand the car club and to increase the number of electric vehicles in the fleet;

(d)  a consultation has begun on the new cycling and walking bridge over the River Trent. The Bridge will be delivered as part of the Transforming Cities programme and will improve sustainable transport, support growth, and encourage more low carbon journeys. So far the consultation has generated a great deal of interest with the vast majority of respondents being in favour of the proposal.

Resolved to

(1)  note the contents of the report;

(2)  request that levels of public transport patronage be included in future reports.

James Ashton, Transport Strategy Manager, presented the report and highlighted the following:

(a)  the Integrated Rail Plan was published on 18^th November 2021 and proposes a  new HS2 East rail line built between Birmingham and East Midlands Parkway with HS2 trains continuing to serve Nottingham and Derby Stations (expected in the 2040s) and full electrification of the Midland Mainline from St Pancras to the East Midlands and on to Sheffield (expected in the 2030s);

(b)  journey times from Nottingham to Birmingham will reduce to under 30 minutes and from Nottingham to London in under 60 minutes. Seat capacity from Nottingham to London will double and from Nottingham to Birmingham will potentially treble;

(c)  progression will continue on a Robin Hood Line Extension and reopening of the Maid Marian line.

The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:

(d)  whilst electrification of the Midland Mainline is positive, this was previously promised and then cancelled and could already have been in place had it gone ahead;

(e)  although the Plan still mentions Toton as a scaled-down station, this is not a lot less likely to happen as it is reliant on external funding and the economic benefits for the area will be reduced;

(f)  positives of the Plan include direct trains into Nottingham city centre and upgrading of the Midland Mainline, and that the new high speed line is now planned to be built sooner.

The Committee were generally in favour of the Plan but agreed that more sight of details plans is required, and information on whether any local contributions will be required.

Matt Gregory, Head of Planning Strategy and Building Control, presented the report on the work of the Joint Planning Advisory Board, and other strategic planning matters within the remit of the Committee.

Resolved to note the contents of the report.

Report of the Joint Officer Steering Group

Matt Gregory, Head of Planning Strategy and Building Control, introduced the report outlining the Committee’s work programme from December 2021 to March 2022.

Resolved to note the Joint Committee’s work programme and give consideration to any future items.

Friday 11^th March 2021 at Loxley House

The Committee noted the next meeting date of 11^th March 2022.