This meeting of the Environment Scrutiny Commission is scheduled to include presentations from council officers and external experts on a variety of topics relating to Southwark's environment. In addition to the presentations, the meeting is also scheduled to consider a response to two Supplementary Planning Documents.

Waste on Housing Estates

The meeting is scheduled to include an Estate Waste Briefing and Update from council officers. Included in the report pack are details of an earlier briefing in May 2024 on waste management on Southwark's housing estates. This earlier briefing identified a number of potential problems with waste on Southwark's estates, including:

Insufficient container capacity for the volumes of waste produced – especially recycling bins.

The report pack also provides an update on the work that is scheduled to take place to improve waste management on seven estates in Southwark: Aylesbury, Brimmington, Lettsom, Newington, Pullens, Rouel Road and Setchel. The report pack says that the work on these estates is intended to improve the management of waste by making changes to the waste collection infrastructure, improving the design of waste storage facilities, and encouraging behaviour change.

Active Travel & Biodiversity Corridors

Council officers are scheduled to present a report on 'Active Travel and Biodiversity Corridors'. The report highlights the council's commitment to increasing biodiversity through its statutory Biodiversity Duty, the Southwark 2030 goals, and the Southwark Nature Action Plan. The report goes on to describe a number of schemes that are already in place or under development to improve biodiversity and encourage active travel in Southwark. These include:

• The Surrey Canal Walk, which has recently benefited from improvements including the planting of 2560 square metres of wildflower meadow.
• The North Bermondsey Wildlife Corridor, which aims to connect St James's Churchyard to Southwark Park.
• The Low Line, which is a proposal for an urban regeneration scheme that will include a green corridor running along the Victorian railway viaducts in the north of the borough.

The report goes on to describe a number of the council's partners in the delivery of these schemes. In addition to providing details of these projects, the report pack notes that:

Recent evidence suggests physical activity in green spaces is more beneficial than activity in other settings, linked to reduced feelings of tension and stress and increased energy and positivity.

Provision of cycle hangars and commissioning for behaviour change

Council officers are scheduled to present a report on the provision of cycle hangars and the commissioning of behaviour change initiatives.

The report describes the different ways that residents can request cycle hangars and outlines the council's plans to increase the number of cycle hangars in the borough. It also provides an update on the progress of the pan London e-scooter trial, which has seen over 700,000 journeys made in the borough.

In addition, the report details a number of initiatives intended to encourage active travel that are either in progress or planned for the future. These include:

• The provision of free cycle training by JoyRiders.
• The Try Before You Bike scheme.
• The BetterPoints app.
• Walk to School Week, which is scheduled to take place from 19 to 23 May 2025.

The report pack describes one of the initiatives - the second annual Southwark Cycle Fest - in more detail, saying:

Sunday, 29 September 2024 saw the very first Southwark Cycle Fest take place in Burgess Park. The event was supported by partners funded by the Streets for People as well as those wishing to come along and be part of this inaugural community-focused celebration of cycling. The second Southwark Cycle Fest is on 6 July 2025 in Burgess Park.

Encouraging more diverse community gardening and food growing

The meeting is scheduled to include a review of environmental health that will include a discussion of how to encourage greater diversity in community gardening and food growing. A number of people are scheduled to attend this item, including:

• Racheal Dring, who is Head of Sustainable Food Cities at Sustain and manages the Capital Growth programme.
• Idman Abdurahaman, who is Co-Director of Earth Tenders CIC.

Interview with the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Parks & Young People

Councillor Portia Mwangangye, the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Parks & Young People, is scheduled to be interviewed. The report pack includes details of Cllr Mwangangye's portfolio.

Climate and Environment & Householder SPDs

The Commission is also scheduled to consider a response to two Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs): the Climate and Environment SPD and the Householder Development SPD. SPDs are documents that provide additional detail on policies in a Local Plan. ¹