Listen to the webcast of our recent Q & A session with four leading City Councillors... or skim through the key points.

Q&A session hosted by Friends of the Earth on 4th October as part of York Environment Weeks

Heather Marsden – Chair

Jenny Kent – Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency 

Michael Pavlovic – Executive Member for Housing and Planning 

Kate Ravilious – Executive Member for Transport 

Stephen Fenton – Chair of Climate Change Scrutiny Committee

QUESTION: We can't wait to convince everyone of the sense of steps towards reducing emissions, increasing biodiversity and so on, but it is dangerous to create 'camps'. So what do you see as key steps in keeping moving forward on these issues and keeping people on board?

Jenny Kent: Behaviour change involves 'carrots and sticks'. The key is talking directly to people.

Michael Pavlovic: Hull Road Park is an example of how communities can come together.

QUESTION: Vital local bus routes have recently been cut in the city. In the midst of a climate crisis when we should be doing all we can to get people out of cars, how can you justify this? And are you going to improve other bus services to encourage less car use in the city?

Kate Ravilious: The Council has to work with commercial operators, who want profit. We will ultimately be working with the Mayor towards a franchise system and bringing back a public bus service. What do we do in the meantime? The Draft Transport Implementation Plan will give buses priority through, for example, a bus corridor from Castle Car Park to the Station. This is a lever to encourage bus companies to put on more services. Another lever is car park charges.

Stephen Fenton: The cross-party work on community transport, for example, on replacing Dial-a-Ride, has been encouraging.

QUESTION:  A global solution that complements the COP process is gaining ground: it is the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT). Would the panel support a motion to the City of York Council (CYC) to endorse the FFNPT?

Jenny Kent: Yes.

Stephen Fenton: This is something that could be taken to the Climate Change Scrutiny Committee.

QUESTION: How would you like to see the wider implementation of solar and wind power installations in York (assuming that you would)?

Jenny Kent: People should Google the City of York Local Area Energy Plan. Currently solar and wind make up 3%; we need 24%. There are two large arrays in planning and two more coming forward. We are looking at the business case for an energy park at Harewood Whin. The developer for York Central is planning to utilise an aquifer that could heat 30,000 homes. The University of York is discussing with Yorkshire Water generating energy from waste.

QUESTION: In terms of housing provision, how do you see the balance between affordability and sustainability? What support would you expect from Government to develop energy-efficient homes and are you confident this will be forthcoming?

Stephen Fenton: It is easy to strike a balance where the Council is building. It is more difficult with private developers, though not impossible. The question is what the Council can do to facilitate workforce and equipment.

Michael Pavlovic: We did not commit to Passivhaus standards in our manifesto because of the length of the housing waiting list. We can get the premium down for Passivhaus by building at scale. We can provide affordable houses at Passivhaus standards, for example, the Ordnance Lane development.

QUESTION: The CYC pledged to make the York Climate Commission an inclusive public forum. What has it achieved so far? What are the next steps?

Jenny Kent: We want the Climate Commission to be wider, more inclusive and transparent. There are eight or nine working groups. The Stockholm Environmental Institute are offering admin support. The Commission will be inviting applications to be the new Chair. Another annual event will be held in January.

Stephen Fenton: The Climate Change Scrutiny Committee will be focused on the Climate Commission on 9th December. 

QUESTION: We need transformational change to make a low carbon city, adapted to a changing climate. In this transformation, there's a massive opportunity to make the city more liveable and biodiverse. Doing this radically, and meaningfully, can take a leap of the imagination. What aspects of a future York would you most like to be able to step into and share?

Kate Ravilious: Transport is also about place-making, how this can make York a better city. In the Movement and Place Plan, we are thinking about exemplar areas, for example, a core walking zone.

Stephen Fenton: There can be consultation fatigue. Finding the minimum that people expect in return for their council tax is a useful measure.

Michael Pavlovic: In planning, green space is almost the first consideration now, as a result of lobbying.

QUESTION: Previous York climate strategies have emphasised mitigation, with very little reference to adaptation. How as a city will we cope when the near 40 degree heat in the summer two years ago is repeated on a regular basis? So my question to the panel is: how urgently do you value the need for adaptation - not the adaptation of tinkering at the edges, but the profound shifts for safety and protecting the most vulnerable amidst the more regular extremes of heat and flood we are likely to experience?

Jenny Kent: A Climate Ready York policy has been introduced. The Climate Action Plan has been changed to take into account whether a measure is adaptation or mitigation.

Kate Ravilious: How to make active travel routes more climate resilient is being taken into account.

Stephen Fenton: We need to think about cooling as well as heating.

QUESTION: What are the conclusions of the TIER E-Scooter and E-Bike trial? Did they reduce car journeys or just reduce walking (it was reported that the average distance travelled was relatively short)? Is the council looking to set up another scheme?

Kate Ravilious: The dispersal of scooters, ratio of bikes to scooters and where you could use them all created difficulties. We are looking at a different, more strategic model. We are considering a scheme at Park and Rides.

QUESTION: What actions are you going to take to make sure that the majority of strategic construction sites are zero carbon and with a high degree of affordability? How is that going to play with the new Local Plan and with Mayoral funding?

Michael Pavlovic: The Local Plan will hopefully be concluded this year. For builders, there are planning requirements for affordability but not sustainability.

Stephen Fenton: Supplementary Planning Documents will provide additional powers.

Jenny Kent: Housing on York Central - 50% will be affordable and 100% Passivhaus equivalent.

Kate Ravilious: Connectivity is important. We need to map out how people get to and from those developments.

QUESTION: York Labour General Committee passed a motion to ask York Council to publish the planning gain and estimated carbon emissions for sites outlined in the Local Plan. What are the problems in doing this?

Michael Pavlovic: Some of this is not in our gift, partly for commercial reasons.

QUESTION: What is the Council going to do to change people’s attitude to their environment?

Kate Ravilious: We will support people to try something new.

Jenny Kent: We are introducing a Retrofit One Stop Shop - demonstrator homes.