To receive an update from Barnaby Briggs on the Climate Partnership.

Barnaby Briggs, Executive Chair of Climate Partnership, gave a presentation. He briefly informed the Forum that the Climate Partnership was an initiative, established by RBWM to promote action on sustainability.

Barnaby Briggs started off by giving an overview of the actions in which the Climate Partnership had done so far:

• Established the Climate Partnership Community Investment Company (CIC), with an independent Board, Vision and Mission.
• Engaged with more than 50 stakeholders, from large corporates to community groups, to establish what would be the best actions to enact.

Three projects were initiated, including projects on:

• A big solar scheme at Furze Platt school which sought to expand the school’s solar power. He added that this would have an element of community ownership later in March 2023, where residents would be able to buy shares in this project.
• A domestic energy efficiency with local partners to improve energy efficiency in households. This would also involve some community ownership which would be revealed during the summer of 2023.
• Wellbeing and biodiversity with BBWOT (Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust) and other partners to promote connectivity with the natural environment.

These projects, Barnaby Briggs explained, were intended to catalyse change and to start setting the agenda.

Other actions included:

•       Commissioned assessment needs of what was going on nationally, internationally and in the Borough, to create a create debates and conversations.

•       Direct support amongst local community groups, including Cookham’s Footprint and the ECO Action Hub.

•       Arranging a Net Zero event with the Chamber of Commerce.

•       Creating up a website (https://www.theclimatepartnership.co.uk).

Barnaby Briggs then showed a graph which provided the basis on understanding where the Climate Partnership and Borough could have the most impact. Based the graph, the Climate Partnership focused on projects relating to, for example, home energy retrofit and affordable and efficient homes.

Barnaby Briggs then explained the next steps were to:

•       Continue to deliver and grow the three projects.

•       Set up a Strategic Advisory Panel, ideally composed of local big employers and special interest groups, to create community oversight.

•       Organise a Launch Event in the summer.

•       Increase the size of the Board.

•       Expand communications, including a Website & Newsletter.

•       Recruiting staff.

Councillor Hunt asked what school was subject to the solar scheme project and what other schools were in the pipeline. Barnaby Briggs answered that the school was Furze Platt Senior School. As for schools in the pipeline, he stated that he reached out to 10 schools (out of 66 schools in the Borough), but discussions had not progressed very far due to focus on installing the solar panel project in Furze Platt, which could then set an example.

Geoffrey Copas asked how many kilowatts the solar panels produced in Furze Platt. He also stated that there should be turbines in every weir along the river Thames. Barnaby Briggs replied that he did not have the exact figure of kilowatts the Furze Platt solar panels produced, though he could provide them separately. He added that he vaguely remembered the non-trivial energy savings were in the tens of thousands per year. He then stated that he agreed to installing the turbines along the river Thames.

Paul Rinder asked how the projects were to be funded and whether the Borough would have any grants schemes available for interested parties. Barnaby Briggs answered that the Climate Partnership was an independent community investment company. While the Borough was the primary funder, this was not the ideal model for the future and therefore the aim was to acquire other funders alongside the Borough. In terms of project funding, the Borough’s funding was not enough to finance the projects. The community ownership model would raise money from community shareholders as well as potentially trigger other funding.

Barnaby Briggs then explained that in the short-term, the Climate Partnership money could act catalytically. For example, if funding was provided for the mental health project, a fundraising exercise could be unlocked.

Councillor Johnson asked about the progress on securing private funding, adding that the Climate Partnership was established to leverage funding from the private sector. Barnaby Briggs replied that acquiring funding had been tricky and that the best way to attract funding was to demonstrate what the Climate Partnership could deliver. While it was not happening quickly, it was nevertheless on the agenda.

Vice-Chair William Emmett stated that farmers were making their contributions to environmentalism, such as solar power and recycling. He then stated the Council should encourage, under the Planning Committee, houses to have solar panels on their roofs. Councillor Johnson responded that this was something the Borough was encouraging with major developments, though mentioned that the Borough was governed by national legislation as well.

Councillor Stimson made a couple of comments. On Vice-Chair William Emmett’s comment, she stated the Borough was formulating sustainability supplementary planning document which would be tougher than the national regulations on homes with the aim of RBWM being one of the leading local authorities in terms of climate biodiversity and health and well-being.

Councillor Stimson then explained that a report was expected from an organisation with partnership with the Climate Partnership on the next steps as well as the best model approach in engaging with business.

Geoffrey Copas suggested for the next meeting that there should be details on the solar panels at the school, namely how much kilowatts was produced, the costs, how much was the school saving in electricity and the school’s return investment. He suggested that the Council should put forward examples of funding to encourage individuals and organisations to take part in this.