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.
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
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
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.’
Minutes:
69/22
It was noted that three Motions on Notice had been received 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.’
During the ensuing discussion, Members were in full support of the proposed Motion on Notice.
It was then:
RESOLVED
That, with South Hams’ close connection with His Majesty’s Armed Forces and, in particular, the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, the Armed Forces Covenant be formally adopted. 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.’
“Full Council resolves that:
While recognising that planning applications are to be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations suggest otherwise; and that changes to the development plan are subject to a statutory process, without fettering any discretion with regard to the determination of such matters, the Council:
1. Will 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; and
2. Supports and progresses, where possible, all forms of development that are able to produce the changes that we need to fulfil our social and ecological needs
3. So as to support Members to be informed about and, where appropriate, engaged with community-led regenerative developments, and in line with existing communications and newsletters, 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 outcomes differ from those of conventional developers that can be provided from the regenerative development projects themselves.
4. Through its social media channels and on its website, SHDC will publish an information piece about the benefits of regenerative planning for the education of the public
In his introduction and with the consent of the meeting, the proposer amended the Recommendation to that set out above (changes highlighted in red font).
In the consequent debate, Members were supportive of the proposals, particularly as the amended wording would permit the aims of the Motion to run in parallel with the requirements of the Joint Local Plan.
It was then:
RESOLVED
That, while recognising that planning applications are to be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations suggest otherwise; and that changes to the development plan are subject to a statutory process, without fettering any discretion with regard to the determination of such matters, the Council:
1. Will 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. Supports and progresses, where possible, all forms of development that are able to produce the changes that we need to fulfil our social and ecological needs;
3. So as to support Members to be informed about and, where appropriate, engaged with community-led regenerative developments, and in line with existing communications and newsletters, 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 outcomes differ from those of conventional developers that can be provided from the regenerative development projects themselves;
4. Through its social media channels and on its website, SHDC will publish an information piece about the benefits of regenerative planning for the education of the public.
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.
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_revie w_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-consumption30-per-cent-henry-dimbleby-food-tsar-1104517#:~:text=July%2015%2C%202021%2012%3A01%20am%20%28U pdated%207%3A49%20am%29,latest%20instalment%20of%20the%20cou ntry%E2%80%99s%20National%20Food%20Strategy
11. National Food Strategy (published July 2021) - https://www.nationalfoodstrategy.org/wpcontent/uploads/2021/07/Nati onal-Food-Strategy-Recommendations-in-Full.pdf
12.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58831636
13- 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.’
In his introduction, the proposer made clear that the Motion was intended to reaffirm what the Council was already doing and was complementary to the Council’s declared Climate Change and Biodiversity Emergency.
In the ensuing discussion, the following points were raised:
a) Members felt that an element of personal choice was paramount and that numerous food and beverage options should be available at all Council premises, meetings and events;
b) With regard to sustainability, a Member highlighted that a ‘plant good, meat bad’ argument was far too simplistic and cited the difference in water consumption that was required to produce some vegetables and nuts as compared to some dairy products. Notwithstanding this point, a Member did respond that a reduction in global meat consumption would be beneficial to the environment;
c) An amendment was PROPOSED and SECONDED that read as follows:
‘That South Hams District Council will continue to ensure that food and drink provided at all meetings and events hosted by the Council will, whenever possible, be locally sourced and provided by a local caterer. The caterer to ensure that plant based options are always available.’
This wording was subsequently accepted by the proposer and seconder of the original motion and therefore became the substantive motion.
It was then:
RESOLVED
That South Hams District Council will continue to ensure that food and drink provided at all meetings and events hosted by the Council will, whenever possible, be locally sourced and provided by a local caterer. The caterer to ensure that plant based options are always available.