Agenda and minutes

The Convener congratulated the following who had received BEMs in the Queens New Years Honours:-

·                Helen Ramsay and Lynsey Cargill from Ancrum, a Mother and daughter, for services to the community through Covid pandemic

·                Josephine Robson from Broughton for services to Foster Care in Tweeddale

·                Shelagh Mary Weir from Duns for services to Sport in the Scottish Borders

DECISION

AGREED to pass congratulations to those concerned.

Consider Minute of Scottish Borders Council held on 16 December 2021 for approval and signing by the Convener.  (Copy attached.)

The Minute of the Meeting held on 16 December 2021 was considered. 

DECISION

AGREED that the Minute be approved and signed by the Convener.

Consider Minutes of the following Committees:-

(a)     Planning & Building Standards                          6 December 2021

(b)     Executive                                                           7 December 2021

(c)     Teviot & Liddesdale Area Partnership               7 December 2021

(d)     Coldstream Common Good Fund                      8 December 2021

(e)     Jedburgh Common Good Fund                         8 December 2021

(f)      Kelso Common Good Fund                               8 December 2021

(g)     Audit & Scrutiny                                                 9 December 2021

(h)     Pension Fund                                                     14 December 2021

(i)      Pension Board                                                    14 December 2021

(j)      Innerleithen Common Good Fund                     15 December 2021

(k)     Peebles Common Good Fund                           15 December 2021

(l)      Chambers Institution Trust                                 15 December 2021

(m)    Civic Government Licensing                              17 December 2021

(Please see separate Supplement containing the public Committee Minutes.)

The Minutes of the following Committees had been circulated:-

Planning & Building Standards                      6 December 2021

Executive                                                       7 December 2021

Teviot & Liddesdale Area Partnership           7 December 2021

Coldstream Common Good Fund                 8 December 2021

Jedburgh Common Good Fund                     8 December 2021

Kelso Common Good Fund                           8 December 2021

Audit & Scrutiny                                             9 December 2021

Pension Fund                                                 14 December 2021

Pension Board                                               14 December 2021

Innerleithen Common Good Fund                 15 December 2021

Peebles Common Good Fund                       15 December 2021

Chambers Institution Trust                            15 December 2021

Civic Government Licensing                          17 December 2021

DECISION

APPROVED the Minutes listed above.

Consider report by Director Infrastructure and Environment.  (Copy attached.)

4.1       There had been circulated copies of a report by the Director Infrastructure and Environment seeking approval of the consultation response to South-East of Scotland Regional Transport Partnership (SEStran) in reply to the Draft Regional Transport Strategy.  The response was required to be submitted by 11 February 2022.  The report explained that the Draft Regional Transport Strategy (RTS) for the South-East of Scotland had been prepared by SEStran which was set up under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005.  It covered eight constituent Local Authorities, namely Clackmannanshire, East Lothian, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian.  The Act also set the requirement to produce a statutory RTS to provide a strategic framework for transport management and investment for the Partnership area.  The Draft RTS had been prepared to replace the Regional Transport Strategy 2015 -2025 Refresh published in July 2015.  It replaced the original SEStran Regional Transport Strategy 2008 –2023 published in November 2008.  An Officers Group had reviewed the draft strategy in the context of national policy, local challenges and opportunities created through the establishment of SOSE and the regions involvement in two growth deals. From this review it was clear that the draft strategy did not properly represent the Scottish Borders and should be significantly changed to reflect more rural challenges and solutions.  It was proposed that Scottish Borders Council submit a structured response through the SEStran consultation portal and a detailed response to clearly articulate the areas where change was required in the draft strategy.  The draft responses were provided in Appendices 1 and 2 to the report.  Without an honest and detailed response the final strategy would not reflect the challenges and ambition of the Scottish Borders, leaving the region without the leverage to support cross boundary and local transport projects that were vital for our communities. 

4.2       SEStran also used the draft strategy to highlight the historic constraints that had hindered their delivery of cross boundary transport projects in the past and identified that there were discussions ongoing with Transport Scotland regarding further powers and funding for SEStran.  Developments would be monitored by Officers and communicated back to Scottish Border Council at the appropriate point. SEStran’s programme for approval of the final Regional Transport Strategy indicated the ambition to seek approval from their Board in March 2022.  It was proposed that the Council request a written response from SEStran on how they had actioned the Council’s comments so that the Council could consider their approach to being involved in the final approval process.  The Scottish Government would publish the draft Strategic Projects Review 2 on the 20 January 2022 (following the publication of this report) and it would inform transport investment programme in Scotland over the next 20 years (2022-2042).  Mr Curry proposed that recommendation 2.1(d) in the report be amended to read “approves in principle the detailed response provided in Appendix 2, and delegates authority to the Director Infrastructure & Environment – in consultation with the Leader and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Consider report by Director of Infrastructure and Environment.  (Copy attached.)

5.1       There had been circulated copies of a report by the Director Infrastructure and Environment providing details of progress to date with the installation of public facing electric charging points within the Scottish Borders.  The report provided information around the introduction of a pricing structure for new and existing SBC maintained electric vehicle charging points throughout the region.  The report explained that a feasibility study had been commissioned, successfully funded through the Community Renewal Fund, to undertake a region wide, cross sector assessment of supply, demand and commercial opportunities to create a strategic delivery model for EV charging infrastructure.  This would provide direct strategic support to all sectors across the region, which would lead on maximising the commercial opportunities for the region and minimising the expenditure for the public sector, business and residents.  This project was expected to conclude later in 2022.  The report detailed the current EV infrastructure across the Border and noted that there was currently no dedicated budget for repairs and replacements, a cost which was projected to increase as the infrastructure aged.  It was noted that the capacity of the National Grid could also have an impact on the future installation of EV chargers.  With regard to the introduction of charges those introduced by neighbouring authorities had been looked at and the proposed charges were in line with these.

5.2       Members welcomed the report and the introduction of charging.  Mr Curry confirmed that they would work with Community Councils regarding the provision of EV Chargers and help fill the gaps where it was not attractive to commercial provision.  He also highlighted the risk of network capacity and discussions were being held with SPEN to see how this could be resolved.  It was proposed that rather than giving delegated powers to the Director to increase charges, if there was an increase in energy costs that charges be reviewed on an annual basis along with all other fees and charges as part of the budget process and this was agreed.

DECISION

AGREED to:-

(a)     note the progress made with the introduction of charging points as part of the Transport Scotland initiative to establish a county wide charging network;

(b)     note that the charging infrastructure was currently free at the point of use and the financial implications of continuing with the current arrangement;

(c)     endorse the recommendation to apply a tariff for the use of electric vehicle charging points;

(d)     review EV charges on an annual basis along with all other fees and charges as part of the budget process to account for any variation in future transaction or energy costs; and

(e)     note that a further report would be provided on the CRF funded EV feasibility study later in 2022/23.

Consider report by Director Infrastructure and Environment.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Director Infrastructure and Environment seeking approval of the response, set out in Appendix 1 to the report, to the Scottish Government consultation relating to the on-shore wind policy statement update.  The report explained that the consultation, which opened on 28 October, had an initial deadline for response by 21 January 2022 and it had been thought necessary that, in the limited time available to assess the proposed changes, Officers would have to lodge a provisional holding response to the consultation.  However, in recent discussion with Scottish Government officials, the timescale had been extended to 31 January to accommodate Committee consideration of the consultation response.  The consultation highlighted the significant role Scottish Government saw being played by On-Shore wind in the delivery of its net zero and climate change targets for 2030.  The Scottish Government was considering ways it could strengthen its support for Onshore Wind deployment in Scotland, and was specifically consulting on the ambition for an additional 8-12 Gigawatts to be installed by 2030, how to tackle the barriers to deployment, and how to secure maximum economic benefit from these developments.  Members considered the proposed response to be balanced and expressed concern of the capacity of the Borders landscape to accommodate any further wind turbine developments with most of the suitable sites already having already been used.  With regard to the Eskdale Muir exclusion zone Councillor H. Anderson asked if a suggestion to reduce from the existing 50 km to 15 km could be added as this would help communities in her Ward to allow small scale turbines.  Members also highlighted that windfarm developments provided little by way of economic benefit for the area or result in lower electricity charges and that communities should have more involvement in management of turbines.  Given the recent approval for off shore wind farms the need for greater land base provision seemed unnecessary.

DECISION

AGREED to approvethe consultation response set out in Appendix 1 to the report, subject to an amendment to the response to Question 27 and the exclusion zone around Eskdale Muir.

MEMBER

Councillor Jardine left the meeting during consideration of the above item

The questions submitted by Councillors Miers, Robson and H. Scott were answered. 

DECISION

NOTED the replies as detailed in Appendix I to this Minute.

Before proceeding with the private business, the following motion should be approved:-

“That under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the aforementioned Act.”

DECISION

AGREED under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the business detailed in  Appendix II to this Minute on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1, 6, 8 and 9 of Part I of Schedule 7A to the Act.

               SUMMARY OF PRIVATE BUSINESS

Consider private Section of Minute of Scottish Borders Council held on 16 December 2022.  (Copy attached.)

The private section of the Council Minute of 16 December 2021 was approved. 

Consider private Sections of the Minutes of the following Committees:-

(a)     Pension Fund                                                     14 December 2021

(b)     Chambers Institution Trust                                 15 December 2021

(c)     Civic Government Licensing                              17 December 2021

(Please see separate Supplement containing private Committee Minutes.)

The private sections of the Committee Minutes as detailed in paragraph3 of this Minute were approved.