To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak.
Minutes:
Two members of the public had registered to speak at the meeting.
(1) David Marsh, the secretary to the Vale branch of the CPRE, addressed Council on agenda item 16, motion no.1.
“The motion concerns SESRO, the South East Strategic Reservoir Option. I am sure you are all familiar with the Thames Water proposals and the wider Water Resource South East (WRSE) draft regional plan. The agenda item before you gives more background and highlights some of the issues on the table at the moment.
CPRE fully support this motion. The need for this reservoir is at best uncertain and at worst considerably exaggerated. There are uncertainties in all the supporting projections, which suggests, that any strategic project needs to be scalable and adaptable. We contend that the proposed reservoir is neither scalable nor adaptable. This contrasts with other alternative schemes, such the Severn-Thames Transfer, which could indeed be scaled. Also, these alternatives would do considerably less environmental and social damage than the proposed reservoir.
In addition, we are concerned that the plans for water in the South East region are fragmented and ignore the pressing need to invest to improve river water quality. What is needed is a more holistic analysis of all water resources across the region.
The national evaluation process (called RAPID) is supposed to produce a rational and transparent assessment of strategic water resource projects, but it is nothing of the sort. There’s nothing rational behind the sudden increase in the size of the reservoir from 100 to 150 million cubic metres.
So CPRE fully supports the calls in this motion for a pause of the SESRO planning, and the convening of multi-stakeholder talks to fully explore the uncertainties, the consequences and the risks in this plan.”
(2) Chris Church, of the Oxford Friends of the Earth, had submitted a written statement as he was unable to attend the meeting. The statement, which had been circulated to all members, endorsed motion no. 2 in agenda item 16 on nature and climate issues.
“Oxford Friends of the Earth welcomes and endorses the Motion proposed by Councillor James on nature and climate change issues. We are a long-established environmental group with over 1700 supporters across the county. We are not linked or affiliated to any political party or grouping. Our focus is on promoting solutions to the nature and climate crises that we face.
We recognise that Biodiversity is in steep decline across the UK and in Oxfordshire, driven by land use change, over- development and climate change; this is undermining human health, wealth and wellbeing globally. The 2023 ‘State of Nature’ report shows how the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth. Continued rapid growth in Oxfordshire means that we are heavily involved with this problem.
We urge the council to recognise that traditional conservation is not enough. We need new approaches that integrate health, well-being and nature with socioeconomic goals.
Nature-based solutions to climate change are one such approach that involve working with nature to address societal goals, bringing benefits to people and biodiversity locally.
Such solutions can make an important contribution to reaching net-zero carbon emissions alongside cuts in GHG emissions across all sectors of the economy, and will also have a critical role in supporting adaptation to the climate-related changes that are coming.
We welcome Vale’s action on Climate Change and urge the Council to support this motion and the measures within it that would integrate action to protect and improve our natural environment with climate action and also to commit to supporting local action by communities across the Vale who are looking to play their part in this work.”
The chair thanked both members of the public for their statements.