SPC 4 - Minutes

Minutes of the Strategic Policy Committee 4 - Climate Change Meeting Held on Wednesday 19th July 2023 At 10.00am in The Council Chamber, County Hall, Riverside, Sligo/Virtual Meeting Room (V)


IN ATTENDANCE:

  • Councillor Sineád Maguire (Chairperson)
  • Councillor Dara Mulvey (Online)
  • Bernard Finan, PPN Agriculture/Farming Sector Representative
  • Councillor Martin Connolly
  • Councillor Donal Gilroy
  • Emer Concannon, A/Director of Services, Sligo County Council
  • Pete Murtagh, Energy Efficiency & Climate Action Officer, Sligo County Council
  • Roisin Curran, Climate Action Graduate, Sligo County Council
  • Paddy Hughes, Senior Executive Engineer
  • Fineen O’Driscoll, A/Senior Engineer, Sligo County Council
  • Karen Kennedy, Community Climate Action Officer, Sligo County Council
  • Imelda McCarron, Administration Officer, Sligo County Council

 

APOLOGIES:

  • Yvonne Lang, PPN Environment/Conservation Sector Representative
  • Lisa Moore, PPN Community and Voluntary Representative

 

1. Minutes of meeting held on 30th March 2023

Proposed – Councillor Martin Connolly and seconded Councillor Maguire

 

2. Matters Arising

None

 

3. LA Climate Action Plan

Statutory obligation to have LACAP adopted by 23rd February 2024. A lot of background work going on at the moment. Public Engagement for the pre-draft plan will go live by end of the week and will be live for four weeks. This will be done via the consult portal on SCC website and will consist of a questionnaire that people can complete and submit. Written submissions will also be accepted from individuals and organisations. This will be followed by a statutory consultation period for the draft Plan, in advance of finalising the Plan.

In developing the LACAP, the preparatory work is almost complete with the Baseline Emissions Inventory and Climate Change Risk Assessment completed for the county. The Sligo Decarbonisation Zone (DZ), which will form a separate chapter within the LACAP.

Publicity for the engagement will be covered on Ocean FM (Climate feature every week), social media, websites, local newspaper and publicity through the PPN.

At the later public consultation stage, stakeholders, including schools, will be directly targeted.

A presentation will be given to SPC 4 in advance of the public consultation stage.

 

4. Climate Action Fund

Karen Kennedy has been appointed as the Community Climate Action Officer – a key role going forward. KK was welcomed to the meeting. Karen will be engaging with communities on various initiatives - her work will be led by a national Community Climate Action fund, for which details are awaited. Karen has commenced engaging with communities on potential projects.

 

5. Sligo Leitrim Energy Agency

The SLEA is now fully staffed. A key focus will be on home energy retrofitting. The Agency is also working on potential projects including the Sligo Green Gas Network and Biogas Facility Feasibility Study.

There will be an official launch later this year, when other Energy Agencies in this EU funded initiative (Northwest & Connemara & the Islands EAs - Local Energy Agencies for Peripheral regions - LEAP) are at the same stage.

 

6. Power to Change Project Update

It was agreed through the Chair that this item would be addressed at the next meeting.

 

7. Other potential projects and funding opportunities

PM provided an update on various ongoing projects:

  • SCORE project in collaboration with ATU: Developing resilience towards climate change in coastal communities using smart technology. Work is ongoing with staff & PhD students in the ATU. Several events are being planned over the summer and the deployment of some sensor technology is expected to happen soon e.g., Water Level Sensors, Smart Pebble (RFID chips), which will be left on the beach for a period and will be used to track the sediment movement over time.
  • GEMINI project: Installation of Geothermal Facility at Sligo Regional Sports Centre. A funding application will be made as part of a multi partner approach (SEUPB funding – application deadline is September).
  • Faster Project (Rapid EV charge points): Installation of rapid EV chargers at Connaughton Road & Teach Laighne. Preparatory work ongoing with installation & commissioning expected before the end of the year.

 

8. Date of the next meeting

September 19th­ at 10.00am

 

9. Any Other Business

 None. 

 

Councillor Maguire thanked all present and the meeting concluded.


Meeting Date 19/07/2023