Agenda item

The Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, made the following announcement:-

“The recent floods that devastated communities across Doncaster and up and down the country, highlight the urgency with which we need to address climate change.  In Doncaster, the waters have receded, the cameras have gone, communities are starting to rebuild and repair, and Doncaster Council will continue to support our residents and communities.  I recently hosted an event to thank communities, voluntary, faith and community sector groups.  It is humbling to see how communities have come together at a time of such challenge.  We will also continue to lobby Government for adequate funding for both flood defences and flood mitigation to support our communities.

These flooding events, plus the recent fires that have taken place across Europe, Australia and parts of the United States, all make the actions that we take in response to the declaration of the Climate and Bio-diversity Emergency more critical.  We really do need to think global and act locally.  This Council’s unanimous support for the declaration has helped to galvanise our collective efforts, bringing communities and organisations together.  Whilst these are relatively small steps, we are starting to make some real progress.

As part of Borough-wide consultation Doncaster Talks, the number one priority from all parts of the Borough was the desire to see a Cleaner, Greener Doncaster.  As part of the budget that we will discuss shortly, further resources have been proposed to support this priority, and Councillor Chris McGuinness will shortly be making an announcement about the Great Doncaster Spring Clean which will be bigger and better than ever in 2020.

Since declaring a climate and biodiversity emergency, this Council has approved investment in electric cars, charging infrastructure and is implementing energy efficiency schemes across Council buildings and housing stock, and major projects such as our new library and cinema development have solar panels.  As a Council, we have already invested in LED street lights and insulating our Council housing stock.  We will continue to work on initiatives that will reduce our emissions and ensure sustainable use of our resources.  All of this will of course have to be within our financial and budget constraints.

Doncaster’s Climate and Bio-Diversity Commission is in place and meets for the fifth time tomorrow.  It has considered a range of topics including land use, energy production and storage, waste, and green business opportunities.  The Commission will be publishing an interim statement by at the end of March.

A very successful Doncaster Nature Alliance Event was held on Tuesday night, which was well attended by a number of residents and community organisations including Doncaster Naturalists, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the Woodland Trust and some of our own Council staff.  The aim was a fantastic advert for the work that the many organisations do to support Doncaster’s natural environment.

The recent ‘Make Your Mark Survey’, highlighted climate change as the biggest issue for young people and our fantastic young people are planning an event which will take place next month, hosted by Doncaster’s members of the Youth Parliament, to generate more ideas about what we can do to tackle Climate Change.  A Members seminar focused on Climate Change is scheduled to take place on 23rd March, which I hope as many Members as possible will attend.

This is just the start.  We need to go further and faster, and that is why I am announcing today, my intention to make a number of pledges at May's Full Council meeting. These pledges will include ceasing the use of peat, glyphosate herbicides and single use plastics, and planting more trees across Doncaster.  I have asked Officers to work up the plans and timescales by which we can achieve them.”

Councillor Chris McGuinness, Cabinet Member for Communities, Voluntary Sector and the Environment, made the following announcement:-

“The Great British Spring Clean will be here imminently and there will be a number of emails circulated shortly, outlining what is going on in your Wards.  Last time, we had over 450 volunteers helping with this on over 100 events at various sites across the Borough, and it would be great if Members could get involved.  At the last meeting, I told you over 3000 penalty notices had been issued, and I can now tell you that we are buying more covert cameras to enforce fly tipping and whilst we will always have those who insist on fly tipping, we may be able to catch more of the guilty offenders.”

Councillor Bill Mordue, Cabinet Member for Business, Skills and Economic Development, made the following announcement:-

“This year was the eleventh Business Showcase that Doncaster has held at the Racecourse, and it is proving to be more successful year on year. It is the biggest event of this kind in Yorkshire, and the event is already over subscribed for 2021.  This event showcases the positive work being done in Doncaster, and I would like to place on record, my thanks to the Business Doncaster Team for all their work in making this a success.”