Agenda item

Five valid questions have been received from members of the public for this meeting.

 

1.                   Question to the Elected Mayor from Mr Latham of Whitley Bay

 

I am writing to hopefully receive an update on the Murton Gap project. I am a local Monkseaton resident renting and wanting to buy my first home in the area I call home near my children’s school. Murton Gap fits this bill. 

 

The Robinson Fields development is well underway however there has been no update in some time on the houses to be built by other developers and when we can expect to see some serious progress on building these homes? 

 

Councillor C Johnson replied on behalf of the Elected Mayor as follows:

 

Following the allocation of land at Murton for housing in the Local Plan (2017) I am very pleased that Story Homes are making good progress with the delivery of the first 300 new homes, including 78 affordable homes, at Robinson Fields. I do recognise the Local Plan makes provision for around 3000 new homes at Murton and I appreciate residents are keen to understand when the remaining homes may be delivered.

 

I can confirm that a planning application was submitted by Persimmon Homes for 2700 homes in February 2023 and this remains under consideration. You will appreciate the role of the Authority as Local Planning Authority is a statutory one over which we have no control as Elected Members. Planning officers are working hard to ensure the proposed development is compliant with the Master Plan adopted in 2017 and that the development responds to relevant planning issues raised by statutory and local consultees and residents to ensure that it is of the quality expected. There are a range of issues to balance in terms of design, environmental impact, highway and public transport impacts and development viability, among others. Once planners are ready to prepare a comprehensive report and recommendation, the application will be presented to the Authority’s Planning Committee for determination.

 

2.                 Question to the Elected Mayor from Ms Bowen of Whitley Bay

 

From a local resident concerned about Health and Climate Change.

 

Even if we stopped all fossil fuel usage today, the UK's food emissions alone would exceed the 1.5 degrees limit set by the Paris Agreement. Food accounts for ? of greenhouse gas emissions, the majority of which comes from meat and dairy. A 2023 Oxford University analysis found that plant-based diets resulted in 75% less greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and land use.

 

Our food systems are incredibly inefficient. 83% of farmland worldwide is used to farm animals but it only supplies 18% of global calories. Transitioning to plant-based diets would create an opportunity to return three quarters of agricultural land to nature. Tragically, Britain has lost more of its natural biodiversity than almost anywhere else in Western Europe. 

 

Furthermore, a study last year by the Office of Health Economics found that just removing meat from weekday lunches alone could prevent hundreds of thousands of cases of heart disease. And increasing plant-based options can help us all eat more fruit and vegetables. In 2018, only 18% of UK children were eating five portions per day.

 

North Tyneside Council boldly declared a climate emergency in 2019. And your Carbon Net Zero Action Plan is ambitious, but it lacks sufficient emphasis on food emissions. Page 13 of the Plan states "The authority provides a range of healthy balanced meal options in schools and operational buildings which includes non-meat options.” But can you go much further? 

 

Several councils, including Edinburgh, Norwich, Lambeth, Exmouth, and Haywards Heath, have endorsed the Plant Based Treaty and initiated real actions to reduce food emissions, such as carbon labelling in schools, plant-based cookery workshops for caterers, promoting Veganuary, and providing fruit and vegetable vouchers for low-income communities.

 

Will this council boldly confront the climate and health crises by endorsing the Plant Based Treaty?

 

Councillor S Graham replied on behalf of the Elected Mayor as follows:

 

Thank you for your question

 

I am very proud of the Council’s Carbon Net-Zero 2030 action plan and the positive results this is producing. The actions we have taken have helped us to be awarded an ‘A’ grade in last year’s assessment by the Carbon Disclosure Project, placing us alongside cities such as New York, Tokyo, London, Barcelona, Paris and Sydney.

 

Additionally, the Council has won first prize in the category of Best Local Authority at the North East Energy Efficiency Awards two years running and went on to finish in second place at the National Awards last year.

 

The Council totally recognises the impact that sustainable food policies can have on carbon emissions, including the growth, transport and disposal of food.

 

We do promote low carbon food choices and provide advice and behavioural change to residents and the wider community to reduce food waste, and we are preparing for the introduction of separate food waste collections from households starting in 2026.  We provide a range of healthy balanced meal options in our offices and operational buildings which include non-meat options.  We manage over 1,200 allotment plots enabling residents to grow their own healthy, sustainable produce.

 

In November 2022, we adopted the Healthy Weight Declaration which recognises that healthy and sustainable food systems and environments promote food and nutrition security and healthy diets, whilst limiting negative environmental impact.

 

The North Tyneside Strategic Food Plan was recently agreed at the North Tyneside Health and Wellbeing Board, the focus of which includes access to healthy, desirable and nutritious food and encouraging sustainable food choices and food waste minimisation.

 

A key principle within the Plant Based Treaty is around reforestation and I am very proud of our work in this area. Since 2021, when we helped to establish the North East Community Forest, we have created 25 hectares of urban woodland and canopy cover and planted over 13,000 trees.

 

Finally, I am pleased to tell you that a refresh of our Carbon Net-Zero Action Plan will be considered by Cabinet on Monday 29th of July. We fully recognise the important issue of food in our work towards a carbon net-zero future and though we are not signing up to the Plant Based Treaty, our work in this field will continue and our refreshed action plan includes a number of actions and case studies on improving the sustainability of our food.

 

Ms Bowen asked the following supplementary question:

 

Thank you for your comprehensive answer.  Supporting the Plant Based Treaty, I understand is something you don’t want to do at this time, but it is a very loud and proud way to show you care about the climate.  The organisation can help with promotion for something the Council can be very proud of, I’m very happy to talk to anyone here about how it can be incorporated into the next version, perhaps not this one as it is being completed in the next few days but after that.

 

Councillor S Graham responded as follows:

 

We will always look at our food production and how we deal with food within the Borough, this is an ongoing piece of work along with all of the other things that we do with transport, heat, light and everything that we do.

 

3.                 Question to the Elected Mayor from Ms Kinney of North Shields

 

Following what was meant to be a temporary move by the Queen Alexandra Sixth Form College and it’s subsequent ending of 6^th form provision, when will a 6^th form reopen in North Shields to replace this lost provision, given John Spence, Marden and Norham High Schools do not have 6^th forms?

 

Councillor S Phillips replied on behalf of the Elected Mayor as follows:

 

Thanks for the question, we are absolutely committed to having a sixth form return to North Shields.  In autumn 2023, a Member Working Group supported the Cabinet Member to examine options for Sixth Form provision for North Shields and that reported to Cabinet on 19 February 2024.  The policy position of the Mayor and Cabinet is that Sixth Form Provision should be added to John Spence Community High School.

 

However, this is a matter for the School, the Academy Trust and the DfE.  The Mayor and Cabinet have committed to working alongside all three to make this happen, but the process is lengthy.

 

Ms Kinney asked the following supplementary question:

 

About timeframe, this provision ended in July 2020, and it’s already been 4 years without provision of a sixth form. Children in the area are having to struggle to send their children to sixth forms having to travel much further.  Having a provision in the area would be much more sustainable with people being able to walk or cycle to the provision.

 

Councillor S Phillips responded as follows:

 

I absolutely agree, the quicker the better. Unfortunately, we are in a position where we have little say over the timeframe, but we will be working with the three mentioned, the school, the academy trust and the DfE and we will be encouraging them to make this as speedy as possible.

 

4.                 Question to the Elected Mayor from Mr Rides of North Shields

 

Given the incoming Government commitment to doubling the size of the co-operative sector, what actions are planned by North Tyneside Council to achieve this goal locally?

 

Councillor C Johnson replied on behalf of the Elected Mayor as follows:

 

As the government have only just been elected, most of the plans I’ll talk about were already in place, and we will have more to say in the near future.

 

North Tyneside Council are currently delivering programmes to support the growth and development of a diverse business base. The Business Factory, as the Council's business support service works really closely with businesses across North Tyneside in order to help them start up, set up and grow.  This includes a clear focus on supporting Social Enterprises, co-operatives and mutuals with a tailored programme dedicated to encouraging mission led businesses to start up and grow in the Borough.  This programme is delivered by specialist partners on the Council's behalf, Junction Point, and they provide 1:1 support and access to consultancy to help navigate business models, set up requirements and solutions to barriers to growth.  The Business Factory is also about to launch a small grant programme for start-ups which will include an offer to new Social Enterprises and co-operatives.

 

The North East Combined Authority are delivering specialist support to Social Enterprises including a financing vehicle. The Flexible Social Finance is open to eligible businesses with the aim of providing access to affordable and flexible, repayable finance for socially trading organisations looking to grow their social impacts and improve self-sustainability.  Investments are available from of £50k - £400k and repayable over 1-5 years.

 

We’re also working in partnership with VODA have also secured £1.5m to support community and voluntary organisations to deliver more in the North West to address a reported gap in activity.  This includes providing small grants to increase community led activity and larger capital grants to help provide capital finance for community led organisations and social enterprises requiring improvements in buildings. 

 

The North East Combined Authority is also looking at Access to Finance for SMEs across the North East.  The North East Fund has provided a suite of different financing models for a range of SMEs over the last 6 years, investing £152m.  Past delivery is currently being evaluated to help inform access to finance vehicles moving forward and Cooperative finance will form part of the considerations.

 

North Tyneside Council is committed to developing an inclusive economy ensuring that journey of growth reaches all the residents in the Borough.  This ambition is set out in the Councils Inclusive Economic Strategy.  To complement and develop this thinking, the Council are developing a Business Engagement Strategy and Economic Strategy that will set out a vision for inclusive growth in the Borough.  An element of this will set out how business support efforts will continue to focus on supporting mission led businesses and how this may be amplified to improve and increase support to cooperatives and mutuals in line with the new government’s pledge.  The Economic Strategy will also include how Cooperatives can link with Net Zero plans, Poverty prevention programmes, affordable housing and social care provision.

 

While we already have lots of things in the works, it’s only been two short weeks since the Government were elected so we have had nothing yet directly from the government.

 

Mr Rides asked the following supplementary question:

 

The response seems to be about general picture of conventional business support, my initial question was specifically about doubling the co-operative sector within North Tyneside.

 

Councillor C Johnson responded as follows:

 

I opened the response saying it’s only been two short weeks since the Government were elected so it will take us more time to put plans into place. Lots of members on the Labour side are members of co-operatives as well, and we will be working to double the size of the co-operative sector.

 

5.                 Question to the Elected Mayor from Ms Pearson of Whitley Bay

 

I recently submitted a FOI to Northumbria Water and they informed me that the beach at Cullercoats is the responsibility of North Tyneside council.  Of course, without clean water, the beach will always be dirty. 

 

What are the council doing to make sure Northumbria Water are fulfilling their side of cleaning up the problem?  What steps are North Tyneside council taking to ensure that Northumbria Water are putting actions in place to improve water quality in a timely manner?  When can we expect Cullercoats Bay water to be at a standard equivalent to Longsands and Whitley Bay? 

 

Councillor H Johnson replied on behalf of the Elected Mayor as follows:

 

Thank you for your question.

 

We are extremely proud of our award-winning coastline and beaches, including the beach and facilities at Cullercoats.  Since 2017, we have been working alongside Northumbrian Water and the Environment Agency to investigate water quality concerns at Cullercoats.

 

Northumbrian Water have undertaken investigations into their own assets and carried out improvement works identified as part of this process.  A significant amount of work has been carried out on both privately-owned sites and public spaces to try and identify the source of the pollution. This includes investigating and rectifying any pipework connections and possible pollution pathways, the re-sealing of gullies and a historic water culvert has been capped off and rediverted. 

 

The Environment Agency is responsible for monitoring, assessing, and classifying bathing water.  Investigations and works carried out to date are pointing towards contaminated groundwater as the primary cause for concern.  The source of contamination is yet to be identified; however, we continue to work alongside Northumbrian Water and the Environment Agency on this important issue.

 

Cullercoats remains a thriving and wonderful beach for locals and visitors to enjoy, with fantastic facilities in and around the beach area and we remain committed to doing all that we can to support the process, until the water quality matches our aspirations.