Working Towards Making Chichester District Plastic-Free
Having complied with the advance written notice requirement in Standing Order 18.1 and the subject requirement in Standing Order 18.2 of the Chichester District Council Constitution, the following motion will be proposed by Adrian Moss (Fishbourne) and, if duly seconded, it will then be discussed at this meeting:
MOTION
‘This Council commits to working towards making this District plastic free, supporting plastic free initiatives within Chichester District by:
(1) Phasing out within the next two years the use of single use plastic from Council premises.
(2) Supporting Surfers Against Sewage in its goal to have a plastic free coastline.
(3) To explore how the Council can involve local environmental groups and businesses to create a robust strategy to encourage local businesses, other organisations and residents to go single use plastic free.
(4) An Overview and Scrutiny-led Task and Finish group be set up to oversee how these objectives can be achieved and to make appropriate recommendations to the Cabinet including assessing what resources will be required.
Minutes:
The Chairman introduced the final substantive item on the agenda, which was a motion on a new matter submitted by Mr Moss (Fishbourne).
Mr Moss read out his motion in full as set out on the face of the agenda, namely:
‘This Council commits to working towards making this District plastic free, supporting plastic free initiatives within Chichester District by:
(1) Phasing out within the next two years the use of single use plastic from Council premises.
(2) Supporting Surfers against Sewage in its goal to have a plastic free coastline.
(3) To explore how the Council can involve local environmental groups and businesses to create a robust strategy to encourage local businesses, other organisations and residents to go single use plastic free.
(4) An Overview and Scrutiny-led Task and Finish group be set up to oversee how these objectives can be achieved and to make appropriate recommendations to the Cabinet including assessing what resources will be required.’
Mr Moss formally proposed his motion.
Mr Morley (Midhurst) seconded Mr Moss’ motion.
Mr Moss presented his motion. He expressed concern about the future of the environment locally and nationally. He cited facts about the amount of plastic in the world’s oceans and the alarming projected estimate in a 2015 study of the likely quantity of plastic pollutant in the seas by 2050. He said this state of affairs must not be allowed to continue and CDC had a responsibility to take a lead by phasing out single-use plastic (SUP). In doing so it should work collaboratively with groups such as Surfers against Sewage to deal with the damaging impact of plastic waste on the district’s and country’s beaches. CDC needed to engage with and exhort residents and other organisations to be highly proactive in addressing this very serious scourge. An organisation such as LitterAction did important work but much more was required to address the gravity of the situation. The manner of support to be given to Surfers Against Sewage (a group which was already doing a great deal) would be in whatever way deemed appropriate and this would be considered by the envisaged task and finish group. Having outlined the four aspects of his motion, he commended the same to the Annual Council for its support.
The Chairman called on Mr Connor (Cabinet Member for Environment Services), who wished to present a counter motion.
Having thanked Mr Moss for his motion and the case he had submitted in support of it, Mr Connor said he wished to amend Mr Moss’s motion so that it read as follows (the text below carries a slight amendment which was made later in the debate and was duly seconded by specifying ‘the October 2018’ meeting of the Cabinet rather than merely ‘a subsequent’ meeting):
‘That this Council commits to:
(1) Continue its work to remove SUPs from Council premises and encourage ‘plastics free’ initiatives supported by appropriate campaigns across Chichester District.
(2) Continue its on-going support for locally led community anti-pollution groups working towards ... view the full minutes text for item 16