SPC 4 - Minutes

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


IN ATTENDANCE:

  • Councillor Sineád Maguire (Chairperson)
  • Councillor Martin Connolly
  • Councillor Donal Gilroy
  • Councillor Dara Mulvey (Online)
  • Yvonne Lang, PPN Environment/Conservation Sector Representative
  • Lisa Moore, PPN Community and Voluntary Representative (Online)
  • Emer Concannon, A/Director of Services, Sligo County Council
  • Fineen O’Driscoll, A/Senior Engineer, Sligo County Council
  • Paddy Hughes, Senior Executive Engineer, Sligo County Council
  • Pete Murtagh, Energy Efficiency & Climate Action Officer, Sligo County Council
  • Karen Kennedy, Community Climate Action Officer, Sligo County Council
  • Imelda McCarron, Administration Officer, Sligo County Council

 

APOLOGIES:

None.

 

1. MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 30TH MARCH 2023

Proposed – Councillor Martin Connolly and seconded Councillor Gilroy.

 

2. MATTERS ARISING

None.

 

3. LA CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

Statutory obligation to have LACAP adopted by 24th February 2024. Pre-draft plan received 21 submissions following Public Consultation. These comments plus background work that was done prior to now, will be compiled into a draft Climate Action Plan, which is expected to go out to public consultation in mid-October.

Publicity for the engagement will be covered by Sligo County Council staff. PM to update SPC Members when draft LACAP is available for consultation.

 

4. CLIMATE ACTION FUND

Strand 1 and strand 1a of the Community Climate Action Programme (CCAP) launched in February this year. This programme will see €24 million from the Climate Action Fund (CAF) provided to Local Authorities to partner with communities, within their areas of operation to build low carbon communities in a considered and structured way. A further €3 million has been made available from the Government’s Shared Island Fund to enable Local Authorities and Communities to run a cross-border project, working with counterparts in Northern Ireland.

Due to delays in finalising the terms of the grant agreement there has been a knock-on delay in the rollout of this Programme. The grant agreement is required to be in place and signed in advance of opening the programme for applications. The Minister is eager to see the programme opening for applications across the country as soon as possible. All parties hope to have the grant agreement finalised in the near future which will enable Local Authorities to begin accepting applications.

As part of ongoing networking and capacity building, a positive public information session was held on 13th September, organised by Sligo PPN, Sligo County Council and ATU.

There were over 40 people in attendance from a range of community groups across the County.

 

5. SLIGO LEITRIM ENERGY AGENCY

The SLEA is now fully staffed. A key focus will be on home energy retrofitting. There will be an official launch later this year when other Energy Agencies in this EU funded initiative (Northwest and Connemara & the Islands EAs - Local Energy Agencies for Peripheral regions - LEAP) are at the same stage.

 

6. POWER TO CHANGE PROJECT UPDATE

Update provided by Yvonne Lang. Project is funded through the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and it’s being ran in partnership with the Sligo PPN. After a call for Expressions of Interest the PPN are now working with 4 groups to create a platform for the Community groups to engage with the Power to Change project and build capacity for Climate Action. Launch is planned within the next few weeks.

On the 8th of September a pilot Youth Assembly event was held in Sligo with 27 Transition Year Students in attendance. The discussions were based around Climate Action and Sustainable Development Goals with the aim of showing the students how their voices can be heard at a local and national level.

It was proposed through the Cathaoirleach that the TY students would be invited into the Chamber to have a Q&A with the SPC.

Imelda McCarron to arrange a date in November in which the next SPC would be brought forward to align with the public engagement phase of the LACAP, and the TY students would be invited along to the same meeting.

 

7. OTHER POTENTIAL PROJECTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Pete Murtagh provided an update on various ongoing projects:

  • Pathfinder Programme: (being delivered through the Energy Bureau with match funding provided by SEAI), involving the retrofit of a number of LA buildings, is to be retendered due to lack of response to the tender published.
    A second Pathfinder Programme, specifically for Leisure Centres was announced and an Expression of Interest was submitted for both the Regional Sports Centre and Waterpoint in Enniscrone.
  • GEMINI geothermal project: Funding application submitted to Special European Union Programmes Body (SEUPB) for the proposed geothermal heating installation at Regional Sports Complex.
  • 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.

Discussion followed:

Yvonne Lang and Pete Murtagh would be in touch with Retrofit Ready and the Energy Agency to ensure both parties were collaborating and communicating on any campaigns. A forum will be organised in 2024 with SEAI, SLEA and Retrofit Ready in attendance, but the current focus of the Climate Action Team and the SPC is the LACAP.

The importance of linking in with the Biodiversity Officer for Climate Action going forward, was noted.

 

8. DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

To be confirmed.

 

9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

None.

 

Councillor Maguire thanked all present and the meeting concluded.


Meeting Date 19/09/2023