Issue - meetings

Report No:   CAB/JT/18/007

Portfolio Holders: SEBC Cllr Alaric Pugh and FHDC Cllr Lance Stanbury 

Lead Officer: Jill Korwin

RESOLVED:

That:

(1)     The West Suffolk Energy Framework, a document supporting the Council’s West Suffolk Growth Investment Strategy, as attached at Appendix B to Report No: CAB/JT/18/007, be approved; and

(2)     Local Energy East, a Tri- Local Enterprise Partnership Energy Strategy, as attached at Appendix C to Report No: CAB/JT/18/007, be endorsed.

The Joint Committee considered the above report, which sought approval for a new West Suffolk Energy Framework and to endorse the Local Energy East Strategy.

The overarching West Suffolk Growth Investment Strategy was adopted by Forest Heath District (FHDC) and St Edmundsbury Borough Councils (SEBC) in February 2018.  The Strategy recognised that “there is great scope to invest in energy and infrastructure to not only get an economic and financial return but social benefits too”

The proposed West Suffolk Energy Framework sought to support this ambition by setting out the policy context (local, regional, national and financial) for investing in energy for West Suffolk, including reflecting national context around environmental drivers, clean growth principles from the Industrial Strategy as well as the latest research and intentions of Local Energy East, a Tri-Local Enterprise Partnership Energy Strategy. 

Councillor Lance Stanbury, FHDC’s Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth, drew relevant issues to the attention of the Joint Committee, including providing additional detail regarding the vision for the Framework; resource implications; how business cases would potentially be developed for individual projects; and how the themes of the Local Energy East Strategy aligned with the Councils’ proposed Energy Framework.

The Joint Committee acknowledged the benefits of having a designated Energy Framework to support the principles of the overarching Investment Strategy and how support for the Local Energy East Strategy would help the delivery of future energy projects in the locality. 

RESOLVED:

That:

(1)     The West Suffolk Energy Framework, a document supporting the Council’s West Suffolk Growth Investment Strategy, as attached at Appendix B to Report No: CAB/JT/18/007, be approved; and

(2)     Local Energy East, a Tri- Local Enterprise Partnership Energy Strategy, as attached at Appendix C to Report No: CAB/JT/18/007, be endorsed.