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to consider the
following motions received (if any) in accordance with Council
Procedure Rules;
a)
From Cllr Hawkins and Cllr
Pearce
‘With South Hams’ close
connection with His Majesty’s Armed Forces and, in
particular, the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, this Council
formally adopts the Armed Forces Covenant. In so doing, the
Council reaffirms its commitment to uphold the Armed Forces
Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community.
The Council recognises the contribution that
Service Personnel, both regular and reservist, veterans and
military families make to our Council, our community and to the
country.’
b)
From Cllr Rose and Cllr
Hodgson
‘Background:
As a planning authority, we are caught between
Central Government’s whims on how many houses we need to
build and profit-driven developers who monopolise the industry. Our
hands are further tied by the lack of adequate policy in the NPPF
to ensure developers truly meet our needs, socially and
ecologically.
Full Council notes
that:
Conventional approaches to development often have
a detrimental environmental impact globally and locally,
significantly contributing to global heating, flooding, pollution,
ecological damage, species extinction and deforestation.
Conventional development routinely fails to
provide adequately for the needs of our constituents, failing to
produce sufficiently affordable housing, produce sufficient quality
of housing, provide integrated means of community sustainability
and resilience (such as community allotments/orchards, on-site
power generation, and flood protection), or integrated support of
community regeneration (sufficient space for community sports,
games etc.)
Too often, new development reduces the quality of
the local environment, where most people live, to the detriment of
the whole, instead of meeting our needs, including for better
places to live.
Full Council believes
that:
Purely profit driven developments lack the
necessary incentives and features to rapidly and radically reform
development practices and outcomes in line with our ecological and
social needs.
Whilst we are statutorily required to meet our
development quota, necessitating our continued cooperation with,
and support of, conventional developers, we also have a duty to
welcome, seek, and support pioneering developers and projects who
seek to demonstrate what is possible when ecological and social
interest is put above profit within development.
Regenerative development shifts emphasis for land
use planning from minimising and mitigating harm to maximising
benefits and removing harm. In welcoming, seeking and supporting
regenerative development we will be aiding and encouraging
essential innovations that can raise the bar for development
outcomes. This can seed greater autonomy within communities and
provide incentive for conventional developers to keep up with
rising expectations and aspirations through working with
communities to genuinely meet their ecological and social
needs.
Supporting regenerative development reflects the
direction of travel of the Devon Carbon Plan and reflects the scale
of the crises we face such that all forms of development, including
those best suited to rural areas, able to produce the changes we
need are supported and progressed, recognising that radical change
and action in the way we shape places is needed, as the NPPF
already lays out.
Full Council
resolves:
1)
In addition to the current
strategy in the JLP, Council resolves to be supportive of and seek
out additional strategies and forms of development able to produce
radical reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and strong uplifts
in carbon sequestration, nature recovery and community and
individual wellbeing;
2)
Support and progress, where
possible, all forms of development that are able to produce the
changes that we need to fulfil our social and ecological
needs;
3)
Officers will provide
information to Members about regenerative development projects that
it is already, or becomes, aware of. This information will include
details on how the expected/documented outcomes differ from those
of conventional developers; and
4)
SHDC will publicly state its
support for regenerative development, explaining clearly how
regenerative development differs from conventional development
through its social media channels and on its
website.’
c)
From Cllr Rose and Cllr
Hodgson
‘Background:
(Credit to Cllr Alex Catt –
Norwich Council)
It is increasingly recognised that
meat and dairy production is a significant contributor to climate
breakdown, with the livestock sector accounting for at least 14% of
global greenhouse gas emissions (1), as well as being a major
contributor to global deforestation (2). The catastrophic effects
of climate breakdown mean climate and risk experts predict a world
with systemic cascading risks related to food insecurity including
food shortages, societal tensions, hunger and malnutrition, unrest
and conflict (according to a Chatham House report from 2021), which
furthermore predicts a 50% chance of synchronous crop failure in
the decade of the 2040s (3). Producing a kilo of beef creates, on
average, 12 times more CO2e than a kilo of tofu or other soya based
proteins (4). Meanwhile, producing a litre of dairy milk uses, on
average, at least four times as much land as producing a litre of
plant milk (5).
As well as a smaller carbon
footprint, eating more plant-based foods also reduces the land
footprint of our diets and would improve UK food security and
self-sufficiency, thereby making our diets more local. As a
country, we currently import much more food than we export. In 2021
we had a trade deficit for all dairy products of £1.04
billion (6) and a trade deficit for just beef, pork and lamb of
£1.7 billion (7). Only 55% of the world’s crop calories
feed people directly with 36% going to feed livestock; only a
fraction of the calories in feed given to livestock make their way
into the meat and milk that we consume which is a huge food waste
issue on top of making our food production much more carbon
intensive (8). While some people criticise people who follow a
plant-based diet for eating imported soy, the vast majority of soy
- 77% - goes to feeding livestock, which research has shown is an
inefficient use of resources. (9) East Anglia is predominantly
arable farming and there are many local predominantly plant-based
food businesses we could support.
Henry Dimbleby, in the Government
commissioned National Food Strategy concluded that a 30% reduction
in meat consumption is necessary for future food security. The
National Food Strategy also states that obesity alone accounts for
8% of annual health spend in the UK, or £18bn (10)(11).
Savings to the NHS will come from healthier, plant-based diets.
Sustain estimates that meat over-consumption costs the NHS directly
£1.2 billion, and 45,000 deaths annually (11). Over 40% of
Britons are trying to reduce their meat consumption and 14% already
follow a flexitarian diet, but plant-based food options are not
consistently available at all events or food venues (12). Other
countries have taken a stance, for example in Portugal it is a
legal requirement for all public catering – including local
authority facilities – to provide plant-based food options,
and other local authorities such as Oxfordshire County Council and
Cambridge City Council have decided to promote plant-based food via
serving a fully plant-based menu at Council meetings and events.
Locally, the University of Cambridge Catering Service reduced
food-related greenhouse gas emissions by a third via replacing beef
and lamb with plant-based products (13).
In September 2021, Norwich City
Council formally adopted the Glasgow Declaration on Food and
Climate which committed the council to try and reduce greenhouse
gas emissions associated with food. Norwich City Council can build
on its achievements to date and lead by example to promote and
normalise consumption of plant-based food, recognising that
plant-based meals are frequently nutritious and low cost food
options. This is in line with its vision for Norwich City to be
net-zero carbon by 2045.
1.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/07/20-meat-and-dairy-firms-emit-more-greenhouse-gas-than-germany-britain-or-france
2.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/04/global-food-producers-climate-crisis
3.
https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/09/climate-change-risk-assessment-2021/03-direct-climate-impacts
4.
https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf
5.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301890948_Systematic_review_of_greenhouse_gas_emissions_for_different_fresh_food_categories
6.
https://ahdb.org.uk/dairy/uk-dairy-trade-balance
7.
https://ahdb.org.uk/agri-market-outlook
8.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/feeding-9-billion/
9.
https://ourworldindata.org/soy
10.
https://inews.co.uk/news/national-food-strategy-cut-meat-consumption-30-per-cent-henry-dimbleby-food-tsar-1104517#:~:text=July%2015%2C%202021%2012%3A01%20am%20%28Updated%207%3A49%20am%29,latest%20instalment%20of%20the%20country%E2%80%99s%20National%20Food%20Strategy.
11.
National Food Strategy (published July 2021) -
https://www.nationalfoodstrategy.org/wpcontent/uploads/2021/07/National-Food-Strategy-Recommendations-in-Full.pdf
12.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58831636
(12)-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-49637723
Motion:
Council therefore resolves
to:
1)
Follow
the lead of many other councils around the country in ensuring that
food and drink provided at all meetings and events hosted by SHDC
be plant-based, and where possible, provided by a local
caterer.
2)
After
engaging with a wide variety of catering options (including
consideration of social enterprises), use SHDC events and online
platforms to promote and showcase environmentally friendly
plant-based food and drink options, alongside displayed information
about the climate and health benefits and relative cost of
different protein/food sources and educating people about how to
achieve a balance plant-based diet.
3)
Secure
through a contract specification when re-tendering for suppliers
that environmentally friendly, locally sourced plant-based food and
drink options are to be available at providers on SHDC open spaces
(where reasonably possible). Similarly when possible, via future
contract specification when re-tendering for suppliers for Council
run cafes, kiosks or leisure centres, specify that vegetable/legume
rich plant-based options are listed prominently on menus, above non
plant-based options.
4)
Continue
to use council communications channels to promote sustainable (and
affordable) food and drink practices throughout the district,
including details of the climate and health benefits of plant-based
food and drinks and educating people on the best ways to achieve a
balance plant-based diet.
5)
Write to
the government supporting UK endorsement of the Plant Based Treaty
and invite all Party Group Leaders to sign the
letter.’
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