In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 10 to consider Motions on notice from Members. Motions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 noon seven clear working days before the meeting.
Motion ‘A’ moved by Councillor A Dale
That Council
1. Welcome the new Government's recent decision to reinstate the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for shale gas extraction, honouring its 2019 manifesto commitment
2. Reaffirm in the strongest possible terms its opposition to fracking and our commitment to opposing any application to allow hydraulic fracturing or exploratory drilling for fracking within the boundaries of North East Derbyshire District, should there be any future changes in national policy
3. Notes that fracking will not produce enough gas to significantly affect the short term energy situation (price or quantity), it is not proven safe in a highly densely populated country such as England (with 12x the population density of the USA) and we have not got the road or pipeline infrastructure to support it without huge additional disruption.
4. Notes that the long term use of fossil fuels must be reduced and that can be better achieved through improved insulation, energy savings and continuing the last 10 years of the rapid increase in renewable energy production. North East Derbyshire District Council will continue playing our part to reduce our energy usage as well as our carbon footprint, by continuing to follow our successful climate change strategy.
Motion ‘B’ moved by Councillor P Windley, seconded by Councillor R Shipman
Council notes:
Council budgets are used for a variety of grant schemes
A lottery scheme would be self-funding and provide additional resources to local community groups and charities on a voluntary participation basis unlike taxation.
Bolsover District Council and Mansfield District Council run lottery schemes, and could offer advice on setting one up.
The funding generated could be used to help organisations helping families get through the cost of living crisis.
Council resolves:
To start its own lottery scheme using the amounts generated to fund the scheme, and then splitting the remaining 50/50 between the winner(s) and funding local community groups and charities that apply.
Motion ‘C’ moved by Councillor R Shipman, seconded by Councillor D Hancock
Council notes;
-Fracking Is a technique for recovering gas and oil from shale rock.
-Fracking was halted in 2019 due to a moratorium put in place.
-In September 2022, the then Prime Minister Liz Truss announced she was lifting the moratorium on fracking
-in October 2022, the current Prime Minister announced the moratorium (temporary ban) on fracking would be reintroduced.
-Chris Cornelius , the geologist who founded Cuadrilla Resources which drilled the first modern fracking well in Lancashire, said that the decision to put fracking back on the table ‘is not going to have an impact’ on the UK energy supply, and that fracking ‘will never be at scale because the capital costs are a huge issue’.
Council believes;
Fracking will not bring down the price of energy bills.
Fracking does not fit with the Councils environmental policies.
Fracking would be detrimental to our communities and environment.
Council resolves;
To oppose any attempts to frack in North East Derbyshire
To write to and ask the County Council as the minerals planning authority to also reject any attempts to frack in Derbyshire.
To call on the government to introduce a complete ban on fracking across the UK.
Motion ‘D’ moved by Councillor David Hancock seconded by Councillor P Windley
Council Notes:
Between November and March, Green bin collections are halted by North East Derbyshire District Council.
Residents ask all members for a better system during the autumn / winter months.
Residents often ask for a reduction in council tax as a result in this loss of service during the halted period.
Council Resolves:
To look at a range of options to provide residents with environmentally friendly options for their green waste, which may include, but not limited to, shorten the halted collection period, support with creating compost bins, advise on alternative ways to dispose of green waste in a way which is good for the environment.
Minutes:
MOTION ‘A’
Members considered a motion submitted by Councillor A Dale which called on the Council to reaffirm its opposition to the use of ‘Hydraulic Fracking’ technology to extract gas and to support the moratorium on this which is currently in place nationally. The full text of Councillor A Dale’s motion, set out as Motion ‘A’, was included on the Agenda for the meeting.
Councillor A Dale agreed to amend his Motion to include additional points contained within Motion ‘C’ proposed by Councillor R Shipman and in particular, that the Council should support a permanent end to the use of Hydraulic Fracking.
Councillor M E Thacker MBE spoke in favour of the Motion. He explained his opposition to Fracking. In particular, he felt that it would have no place in a zero carbon future, posed a threat to the environment and was not a solution to the energy crisis.
Councillor N Barker spoke on the Motion. He argued that Fracking should be banned throughout the whole country. He then moved an amendment to the motion, calling on all Group Leaders to write to the District’s Members of Parliament expressing their opposition to fracking throughout the entire United Kingdom (UK). The amendment to the substantive Motion was circulated to Members. Councillor S Pickering then seconded the Amended Motion. He also took the view that an outright ban on Hydraulic Fracking across the whole UK was needed.
Councillors A Dale, R Shipman, D Hancock and M E Thacker MBE called for the amendment to be withdrawn as the substantive Motion now called on the UK Government to ban fracking throughout the country.
At the end of the discussion the amendment to the substantive Motion was put to a vote and was rejected.
The substantive Motion was then moved by Councillor A Dale and seconded by Councillor R Shipman. The Motion was put to the vote and was approved.
RESOLVED –
That Council:
1. Called upon the Government to make permanent the ban on the use of Hydraulic Fracking throughout the United Kingdom
2. Reaffirmed in the strongest possible terms its opposition to Fracking and our commitment to opposing any application to allow hydraulic fracturing or exploratory drilling for fracking within the boundaries of North East Derbyshire District, should there be any future changes in national policy.
3. Noted that Fracking will not produce enough gas to significantly affect the short term energy situation (price or quantity), it is not proven safe in a highly densely populated country such as England (with 12x the population density of the USA) and we have not got the road or pipeline infrastructure to support it without huge additional disruption.
4. Noted that the long term use of fossil fuels must be reduced and that can be better achieved through improved insulation, energy savings and continuing the last ten years of the rapid increase in renewable energy production. North East Derbyshire District Council will continue playing our part to reduce our energy usage as well as our carbon footprint, by continuing to follow our successful Climate Change Strategy.
MOTION ‘B’
Members considered a motion submitted by Councillor P Windley which called on the Council to establish a lottery scheme in order to provide additional resources to local community groups and charities. The full text of Councillor P Windley’s motion, set out as Motion ‘B’, was included on the agenda for the meeting.
Councillor M Foster spoke against the motion. He argued that gambling could cause addition and lead to great hardships within society.
Councillor R Welton also spoke against the motion as they did not believe that the District Council should be encouraging residents to engage in gambling.
Councillors J Barry, N Barker, T Reader, M Jones and M E Thacker MBE argued that they could not support the Motion, but that they did support the sentiments behind it and believed it could be discussed and explored through one of the Council’s Scrutiny Committees.
Councillor G Morley suggested that fundraising schemes should be explored by the Parish Councils and, if appropriate, implemented by them rather than by the District Council.
Councillor D Hancock seconded the Motion. He hoped that the ideas expressed be by Members throughout the debate could be developed further if Council chose not to support it.
At the conclusion of the debate the Motion, as moved and seconded by Councillors P Windley and D Hancock, was put to a vote and rejected.
MOTION ‘C’
Councillor R Shipman and Councillor D Hancock as mover and seconder of the Motion agreed to withdraw it, as Motion ‘A’ had already been approved.
MOTION ‘D’
Members considered a Motion submitted by Councillor D Hancock which called on Council to look at a range of options to provide residents with environmentally friendly options for disposing of their green waste. The full text of Councillor D Hancock’s motion, set out as Motion ‘D’ was included on the Agenda for the meeting.
Councillor D Hancock agreed to include an amendment to the motion, proposed by Councillor C Cupit, which included working with the County Council on this issue and supporting plans to extend the garden waste collection period. The full amended motion was read out to Council.
Councillor N Barker indicated his support for the amendments to the Motion.
The Motion, as moved and seconded by Councillors D Hancock and C Cupit was put to a vote and approved.
RESOLVED –
That Council:
1. Noted that between November and March, green bin collections are halted by North East Derbyshire District Council.
2. Noted that many residents ask members for improvements to our system during the autumn / winter months, particularly given the changes in our climate.
3. Resolved to support plans to extend the garden waste collection period next year as well as looking at a range of options to provide residents with environmentally friendly options for their green waste, which may include, but not limited to, working with the County Council on discouraging food waste and encouraging the use of compostable bags for food waste/peelings; support with creating compost bins; and further advice on alternative ways to reduce and dispose of green waste in a way which is good for the environment.