The following motions have been received in accordance with Procedure Rule 16:

The following motions had been received in accordance with Procedure Rule 16:

a Motion received from Councillors Alex Wagner and Dan Thomas and supported by Councillors Duncan Kerr and Dawn Husemann

Enhancing Accessibility of Council Meetings

This Council recognises the importance of ensuring that all elected members, regardless of employment status, are able to fully participate in the democratic process and contribute to the work of Shropshire Council. All Scrutiny and Committee meetings are currently scheduled during standard working hours. This timing can present barriers to engagement for members who work full-time or have other daytime commitments. To improve accessibility and inclusivity for all Members and the Public, this Council resolves to:

1.    Move a selection of Scrutiny and other Committee meetings to a 6pm start time, with the aim of enabling greater participation from working-age members.

2.    Request that Democratic Services continue to consult with Group Leaders and Committee Chairs to identify suitable meetings for evening scheduling.

3.    Review the impact of this change after a twelve-month period from implementation, including feedback from members and officers, to assess its effectiveness and sustainability.

This Motion seeks to modernise our approach to member engagement and ensure that Shropshire Council remains representative and responsive to the needs of all its elected members.

On taking a vote the motion was supported and it was RESOLVED:

That Council

1.    Move a selection of Scrutiny and other Committee meetings to a 6pm start time, with the aim of enabling greater participation from working-age members.

2.    Request that Democratic Services continue to consult with Group Leaders and Committee Chairs to identify suitable meetings for evening scheduling.

3.    Review the impact of this change after a twelve-month period from implementation, including feedback from members and officers, to assess its effectiveness and sustainability.

b Motion received from Councillor Brendan Mallon and supported by Councillors Dawn Husemann, Carl Rowley, Harry Hancock Davies and George Hollyhead

Members of the Economy and Environment Committee were recently briefed on the proposed Sundorne Sports Village redevelopment.? Some of us were disappointed to see that Pyrolysis technology has not been considered for the requirement to supply both bulk heating and electrical energy for the facility, seemingly an ideal solution for such an application. ? 

Instead, a multi-million pound system of air source heat pumps and solar panels has been selected.? This technology will somewhat mitigate reliance on the world’s most expensive electricity grid but will still be highly dependent on that grid in low light and/or low temperature conditions.? The production and supply chain for the solar panels in particular involves highly carbon-intensive production and transport from China, with a high risk of slave labour being involved.? These panels are also uneconomical to recycle, with the attendant risk to the environment from end-of-life disposal. 

By contrast, the Pyrolysis technology provides abundant heat and electricity on demand, is completely ‘off-grid’, is carbon negative and should repays its capital costs over time through the sales of biochar product and carbon credits, unlike the heat pumps and panels which are merely lower carbon and is still heavily grid-dependent.? The equipment is easily recyclable at its end-of-life.  The plants and their feedstock are both locally produced, supporting local employment and commerce.? The Council is already heavily invested in this technology at the Ludlow site, as well as having made a substantial £500000 direct investment in manufacturer Biodynamic Carbon Ltd.  

This Council has?already expressed robust support for this technology at a Full Council meeting, voting in additional funding to bring our total investment up to a considerable £3.3 million.? If we are spending over £3 million of council taxpayers’ money on this technology in Ludlow and have substantially bought into the manufacturer, then it should be a serious contender for the Sundorne application.  

 In order to support what would appear to be an economically and environmentally superior technology, as well as supporting local industry and demonstrating confidence in Shropshire Council’s own existing direct investment in its use and production, we move that a full side-by-side comparison of the two systems be made, with the superior technology being selected for deployment on the Sundorne project.? The comparison should consider the full life-cycle costs (including offset through biochar and carbon credit sales) and environmental impact of equipment procurement, replacement and disposal across the expected lifetime of the Sports Village, as well as comparing overall energy and CO2 budgets across that life-cycle. 

Let’s keep the Shropshire Pound in Shropshire. 

  By way of amendment Councillor Julian Dean proposed

  Delete all and replace with: 

Council notes the intention for energy efficiency measures in the new development proposals for the Sports Village, which will make use of proven technologies including solar PV and heat pumps. We further note that heat pump technology is a highly efficient use of electricity to provide heating and is suitable for the vast majority of houses in the UK. However, as long as electricity prices remain tied to those of gas, electricity consumers are penalised due to the high and volatile prices of fossil fuels, undermining the incentive to convert away from fossil fuel-based heating. 

Despite the clear benefits in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions of using PV and heat pumps, we recognise that the supply chain for these technologies is often reliant on imports, and that there are risks associated with highly carbon-intensive production and transport from China, with a high risk of slave labour being involved. We ask the portfolio holder for economic growth, and officers responsible for this and any other development, to look to use and/or develop supply chains close to home.  

Council is disappointed to note that initial plans do not include introducing sustainable technologies for heating and energy across the rest of the facility as recommended by this council. We welcome the inclusion of such an option for consideration in early 2026. 

We note that Pyrolysis technology provides abundant heat and electricity on demand, is completely ‘off-grid’, is carbon negative and could well repay its capital costs over time through the sales of biochar product and carbon credits. The equipment is easily recyclable at its end-of-life.  The plants and their feedstock are both locally produced, supporting local employment and commerce.  The Council is already heavily invested in this technology at the Ludlow site, as well as having made a substantial £500000 direct investment in manufacturer Biodynamic Carbon Ltd. We note that making use of locally sourced renewable energy, whether wind, solar or through pyrolysis, will help to ‘keep the Shropshire pound in Shropshire.  

 We further note that the opportunity for a district heat network based around a C1000 Pyrolysis plant identified by officers, which could produce far more heat than the swimming pool and leisure centre combined would need.  

We continue to express our support for an economically and environmentally excellent technology, that supports local industry and demonstrates confidence in Shropshire Council’s own existing direct investment in its use and production. We welcome the fact that the portfolio holder is bringing a proposal to cabinet for officers to examine the feasibility of developing a local heat network. This would be based on Pyrolysis deployment on the sports village site with the aim of decarbonising the existing sports village buildings and providing lower cost heat and power to the new facilities. We expect that such a feasibility study would include a comparison with the proposed heating system for the new development at the Sports Village. 

We ask that there is rapid consideration of whether this feasibility study would justify reconsideration of the currently agreed plans for the new development, which is already designed to very high energy efficiency standards (realising BREEAM excellent standards). 

On taking a vote the amendment was approved and on taking a further vote the amended resolution was supported