Venue: Via Microsoft Teams
Contact: Chloe Plowman - Email: c.plowman@npt.gov.uk
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Welcome and Chairs Announcements Minutes: The
Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting. |
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Declarations of Interests Minutes: The
following declaration of interest was received:
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Update on Regional Energy Strategy Delivery Minutes: Members
were provided with an update on the Regional Energy Strategy Delivery. The
Chairperson was pleased to note that the Regional Energy Team had recently been
awarded a further year of funding from Welsh Government until March 2026. Officers
provided an overview of the report and reminded the Committee that the Local
Area Energy Plans (LAEPs) were the framework for delivery of the Regional
Energy Strategy. It was noted that although the LAEP are public documents,
there were plans to publicise them further through a public forum at the
beginning of July 2025; this will be an important stage for public engagement
and transparency, as it will demonstrate progress made, challenges and
specifics around delivery. Despite
the positive news about additional funding from Welsh Government, it was stated
that the funding was only available up until March 2026 and there were a number
of concerns in terms of resourcing the delivery. It
was explained that there were limited resources across all four Local
Authorities for delivering this workstream, with many Officers working on the
delivery as part of their day jobs; there were also limited targeted employees
carrying out this particular piece of work. Following
on from the above, Officers highlighted that the Regional Energy Team were
critical in terms of delivery and continuing progress. It was noted that
discussions would need to take place in terms of staff resource; particularly
the need for more permanent roles in order to provide consistent progress. Members
were informed that Officers were currently waiting for the Welsh Government
statement regarding Carbon Budget 3, which should be provided by the end of the
year. It
was stated that the current position, from an Officer level, was that although
delivery was moving forward, it was currently on a low level due to the
highlighted difficulties and challenges. Officers
provided detail in regard to serval ongoing and planned projects: ·
Parc Gelli Werdd
Launch Events – As previously mentioned, there was a planned launch event for
LAEPs at Parc Gelli Werdd,
a sustainable business park in Cross Hands, which was funded by a joint venture
between Carmarthenshire County Council and Welsh Government. In addition to
this, Officers explained that they were developing LAEP webpages and creating
online training for staff within the Local Authorities in order for them to
engage with the LAEP documents. ·
Innovate UK Application – Officers were working in Pembrokeshire, with
Bluestone and the Port, to produce an application for Innovate UK to support
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) within the tourism supply chain; this piece
of work sought to obtain their carbon reporting and decarbonisation plans. It
was noted that this work provided support to these organisations in order to
assist them in improving their sustainability, reducing their carbon footprint
and providing a combined decarbonisation plan; it also enables Officers to
aggregate that data and look for opportunities where smart energy systems could
be created. · Regional Transport – The Regional Energy Team were linking in with the Regional Transport Team to ensure ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |
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Urgent Items Any
urgent items at the discretion of the Chairperson pursuant to Section
100BA(6)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). Minutes: There
were no urgent items received. |