Present:-

Councillors Berry, Colthorpe, Hannon, Lee and Radford

Devon Association of Parish Councils

Councillor Browse

Apologies

Councillor Way

*55 Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman

RESOLVED that Councillor Radford and Councillor Colthorpe be elected Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively for the ensuing year.

*56 Minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 March 2011 be signed as a correct record.

*57 Waste Core Strategy and the Future Role of Waste Management in Energy Production

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Service for Planning, Transportation and Environment (PTE/11/3 - text only | pdf PTE/11/3) presented by Mr George Marshall, Planning Officer, on the generation of local energy from waste in the context of waste planning and the work the County Council is undertaking in its role as Waste Planning Authority in the preparation of Waste Core Strategy (which replaces the Waste Local Plan). The report detailed the emerging Waste Core Strategy and went on to outline the various methods of generating energy from waste which included anaerobic digestion, incineration, gasification, pyrolysis, plasma technology and wave resonance technology. The report concluded with the results of a study undertaken by the University of Exeter looking into the potential for renewable energy generation across Devon. Mr Marshall touched on local energy generation specifically in the Mid Devon area.

Members asked questions and made statements in relation to:-

how was the disposal of slurry dealt with?

the style of waste collection must be uniform and must be co-ordinated so that it can be transferable to different technologies;

how is commercial and industrial waste dealt with?

if a private company wanted to open a plant to convert timber waste to energy would it still be subject to this Strategy?

can commercial operators dispose of waste for energy as they see fit?

is renewable energy part of the Stategy?

is Plymouth and Torbay part of the Strategy or are they separate waste planning authorities?

would we still receive waste from Somerset?

does the handling of waste residue feature as part of the Strategy?

what are the total tonnages for Devon for household and commercial waste?

there were two new applications for energy from waste plants. what would the effect be if they came on-line?

why haven t we looked at large scale plants?

what happens after the current round of consultation?

Members felt that District Councils should be encouraged to standardise their waste and recycling collection across Devon and the Waste Core Strategy should encourage emerging energy from waste technologies to be developed.

*58 The Big Society

The Committee received a presentation on the Big Society by Ms Lesley Smith from the Community Council of Devon. Two pamphlets were passed around the meeting: The Big Society : Making it work for Devon about the Community Council of Devon s support for the Government s initiative and the four cornerstones of the Big Society and The Big Society : Blueprints for Devon detailing six community initiatives which fit under the Big Society banner.

Ms Smith gave some background detail about the work of the Community Council and neighbourhood planning, the NACL Conference held recently which stated that things should be done more locally , the minimal guidance from Government and Whitehall s view about what local actually means, examples of community led initiatives, getting Councillors with their local understanding and knowledge involved in helping these initiatives and sharing good practice. Members discussed the availability of funds and how they are dispensed.

*59 Mid Devon Local Strategic Partnership

The Committee received and minutes of meeting held on 20 May 2011 and the County Community Strategy Officer referred Members to Minute 3 about the future direction and working of the Mid Devon LSP. Mr John Bodley-Scott, Community Development Manager MDDC, attended and spoke about the central question of whether the LSP was fit for purpose and delivering its objectives. Members shared their experiences of the meetings of the LSP and their perception of the effectiveness of the Partnership and it was agreed that it was this Committee s view that the Mid Devon LSP should be dissolved. Councillor Lee agreed to pass on this view at the next meeting of the LSP Executive.

*60 Feedback/Representations

There were no issues raised by Members serving on other bodies or feedback from Mid Devon District Council and Devon Association of Local Councils representatives.

*61 County Committee Locality Budget 2010/11 Outturn and Spend To Date for 2011/12

The Committee considered the report of the County Community Strategy Officer (CX/11/50) setting out recent Locality Budget spending proposals and the budget position as at 8 June 2011. Councillor Colthorpe observed that there were 3 or 4 applications of hers that did not feature in the report. Mr Pyle, the County Community Strategy Officer, agreed to follow this up. He then went on to report on the Cabinet s allocation of 300,000 from the County Council s underspend to be shared between the 8 Locality (County) Committees. The funding would be distributed to those Committees in proportion to the number on their electoral rolls. This money was to be used by the Locality (County) Committees to benefit the residents of their areas. Mr Pyle estimated that there would be roughly 30,000 for the Committee to spend on Mid Devon initiatives and would be reporting to the next meeting of this Committee on the spending guidelines attached to this money.

It was MOVED by Councillor Radford, SECONDED by Councillor Colthorpe and

RESOLVED

(a) that the outturn for 2010/11 be noted;

(b) that approval for the spending proposals set out in the Table in paragraph 3 of the report, including those agreed by the Chairman/Vice-Chairman since the last meeting, be confirmed;

(c) that the current budget position for 2010/11 be noted;

*62 Date of Next Meeting and Items for Future Discussion/Work programme

The Committee noted that the next meeting was due to be held on Monday 17 October 2011 and that items for consideration would include the funding allocation referred to above.

*DENOTES DELEGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT

The meeting started at 2.00pm and finished at 3.35pm.

The Minutes of the Mid Devon County Committee are published on the County Council s Website at:-