Director of Services Caitlín Conneely introduced the Draft Climate Action Plan - a statutory plan that has been discussed and approved at the Planning, Environment, Climate Change and Corporate Strategic Policy Committee and is now ready to proceed to public consultation. She said the draft plan is now before Members for approval at the meeting to go to the next stage – public consultation. It is anticipated the final plan would be considered for adoption by the end of February.

The Climate Action Co-Ordinator Aoife Moore presented an overview of the plan to the members:

·         Advance planning for the document commenced last year with an initial pre-draft public consultation phase running from April to October in 2023

·         The document will go on public display for six weeks for public submissions and it is anticipated to have the completed plan in place by March 2024 if adopted by the Members.

·         The plan will be in force for five years with a two-year preparation phase which will be informed by EU and National legislation governing climate change.

·         There are four stages to the plan:

o   Full Accountability - delivering o actions within RCC remit

o   Influence – directly through procurement etc; regulatory through policy decisions and broad through provision of services.

o   Advocate - engaging with communities by creating awareness and capacity building

o   Coordinate and Facilitate - creating bridges between different stakeholders in identifying funding and collaborate and engage in partnerships

·         Climate Risk is a continuing issue as new and adverse weather trends continue to intensify resulting in increased temperatures and more rainfall in winter.

·         The vision of the plan is that within its five-year lifetime Roscommon would deliver a carbon neutral economy and have targeted carbon actions as part of its plan.

·         Five themes were identified as part of the plan, under which goals and objectives would be realised - governance, the built environment, the natural environment and infrastructure; communities, resilience and transition and sustainable resource management.

·         The development of a Decarbonisation Zone in Roscommon town would be an exemplar or ‘test bed’ of the plan for learning and knowledge sharing

·         The actions contained within the plan would be broad in scope.

·         To deliver Climate Action objectives, there is a need for stakeholder engagement from communities and local businesses to realise the terms of the completed Climate Action Plan, noting the objectives of the Plan were broad in scope to take advantage of initiatives that become available during the life of the plan

The Chair of the SPC, Cllr. Naughten thanked the Director, the Climate Action Unit and the members of the SPC for the work they have put into the plan to get to this stage noting significant feedback had been obtained in the development of the Draft Plan, resulting in Roscommon becoming a leader on Climate Action when it is adopted. However significant funding will be required from central Government if the plan is to deliver on actions by local authorities, communities, the farming sector and industry.

Members broadly welcomed the plan and discussed as follows:

·         The high rate of submissions received during the pre-draft/preliminary consultative phase was noted.

·         It is important to publicise and encourage the public to make submissions.

·         Will there be an opportunity for the Members to consider submissions received in advance of finalising the Plan?

·         Members cited the cost effective nature of implementing climate action friendly initiatives such as the instillation of LED Christmas lights in towns, which had a cost effective benefit on energy use and costs.

·         The importance of the Plan being promoted in a positive fashion, focusing on the financial benefits of buy-in from community groups.

·         Concerns were raised over projections of carbon emissions and the impact this had on job losses following the cessation of turf harvesting at the Bord na Mona site in Mountdillon and the closure of the Lough Ree Power electricity generating plant in Lanesboro. These closures should be used to promote job creation as part of the Climate Action Plan.

·         Members cautioned against the greater use of electricity for home and car use, urging the need for energy security.

·         Appeals were made for the availability of greater supports to farmers arising from the impact of climate change and manage their business at no extra cost.

·         Gullies should be cleaned on a more regular basis, which would minimise the impact of excess rainfall and potential flooding.

·         Verges should be opened at least once a year to relieve excess flooding on local roads.

·         Concern expressed over what was perceived as the impact of climate change upon rising electricity costs.

·         Members appealed for Government measures to be sensible and thought-out for the benefit of community groups.

·         It was suggested that there should be less dependence on other countries for Ireland’s energy security need together with a greater focus on its positives of the plan.

·         Concerns were raised over the availability of electricity for electric vehicles and the cost of transition to air to water heating of buildings.

·         A request was made that an amendment be made to the Draft Plan on pg. 63 to refer to Roscommon Transition Towns.

·         Will the Climate Plan, when adopted, have a bearing on future planning applications?

·         The effects of climate change in having a big impact upon lives with increased flooding trends, locally and nationally.

·         Clarification was requested on the difference between ‘global warming’ and ‘climate change’.

·         Ireland will have no big impact on Climate change internationally as we cannot influence bigger powers such as the US and Russia who don’t seem to be doing anything.

·         Minister Eamon Ryan’s recent visit to Roscommon was described as an informative meeting.

·         It is important that people are incentivised to support the Climate Action Plan.

·         Members were cautioned that the provision of three phase power didn’t automatically mean communities would be successful in making grant applications as criteria such as the availability of bathroom facilities and shops were also a consideration in providing funding for charging facilities.

·         A Climate Action emergency was declared by members five years previously. It was stated local authorities needed to take responsibility for their own actions and not rely on others to take the lead in promoting climate mitigation and adaptation measures. We must own this and take actions now.

·         The Local Authority would have no basis to call out larger polluters if not taking action themselves. Taking action will result in a transition to a better and more effective society.

A proposal for Roscommon to be considered as a pilot scheme for water quality as an example to Ireland and other countries was proposed by Cllr. Waldron and seconded by Cllr. J. Naughten.

Responding, the Director of Services Caitlín Conneely said the local authority was working constantly on improving and monitoring local water quality. She said the new River Basin Management Plan would soon be presented to members for consideration and this proposal may be more suitable for discussion at this time. Cllr. Waldron said he would submit a notice of motion on this issue at a future meeting.

Responding to the issues raised, Aoife Moore said public consultations will conclude on December 15^th and a report on the submissions received will be circulated to members by mid-January as part of the Chief Executive’s report.

Ms. Moore said the planning process is a separate process to the terms of the Climate Action Plan, noting that the of the County Development Plan includes climate mitigations and any actions cannot be in contravention with it.

The decarbonisation zones will be dealt with as a separate consultation process.

Referring to claims citing historical adverse weather patterns, Ms. Moore said the impact of those trends was not as significant as the infrastructure that exists in society today, did not exist then.

Issues relating to farming, the cessation of turf cutting and power generation at the Mountdillon works and the Lough Ree power plant respective were contained in section four of the draft plan under advocacy.

Chief Executive Shane Tiernan acknowledged the work of the Climate Action Unit and said how Minister Ryan was particularly impressed by the production of a range of climate action videos, highlighting significant interventions undertaken by community groups. He said the Minister was particularly impressed by interventions undertaken by the Kilteevan Tidy Towns committee.

On the PROPOSAL of Councillor Naughten

SECONDED by Councillor Shanagher

It was AGREED that the Council would write to the Minister for the Environment and the Taoiseach’s office that funding would be allocated to deliver all of the actions as outlined in the completed Climate Action Plan.

On the PROPOSAL of Councillor Kilduff

SECONDED by Councillor Kelly

It was AGREED that the Council would write to the Department of the Environment seeking the adoption of measures to assist community groups seeking grant funding for better access for the provision of electrical chargers without the need for three phase power. It was proposed the scheme should be as simple as possible for applicants and mindful of their voluntary nature. It was also agreed funding should be made available to groups for the provision of three phase power, if required, in respect of any future grant applications made.

On the PROPOSAL of Councillor Naughten

SECONDED by Councillor Leyden

It was AGREED to adopt the Draft Climate Action Plant to move to the public consultation phase.