Local councillors on Merton's overview and scrutiny panels regularly carry out reviews of issues and services that affect people living in the borough. These
reviews involve finding out about local people's experiences and looking at how other towns and cities deal with the same problems. Councillors then suggest ways of making things better in Merton.
Past reviews have covered issues ranging from the council's library service to preventing ill health to services for young people. They are currently asking people what theythink they should look at next.
I think overview and scrutiny should carry out a review of Merton's oil vulnerability, including:
1) The energy use of all council activities and buildings.
2) What emergency planning is in place to respond to sudden interruptions in oil supplies and/or sharply rising oil prices, with a particular emphasis on at risk communities.
3) Options for energy efficiency and energy conservation programmes that help businesses and individuals to reduce their oil and gas consumption in the borough, including specific and timetabled targets.
4) The borough's public transport system and measure to what extent it is energy-efficient and renewable.
5) Options for cycle lanes and road pricing.
6) Options for major public-awareness campaigns informing the public of peak oil.
7) Options to encourage local food production and processing.
8) Potential for a joint peak oil task force with other councils and existing community-led initiatives such as Sustainable Merton.
9) Policy on peak oil and climate change.
Overview and scrutiny should carry out this review because an increasing number of energy analysts are convinced that global oil production is 'peaking' and going into sustained decline. So in addition to the challenge of climate change, we will very soon have to contend with a rapidly growing deficit in transport fuels. This is likely to cause big spikes in the oil price and potentially devastating economic and social impacts, with huge implications for the provision of services by local government. This problem will be exacerbated by a severe shortage of oil and gas workers for at least the next ten years. It will radically change the way our societies are run - our transport systems, how we produce food, where we live, how we shop, our social and educational lives. There are a great many things that councils must do, and policies that need to be changed, if we are to have any chance of mitigating peak oil. Many of the conclusions of such a review by the scrutiny panel would, if implemented, reduce expenditure almost immediately simply by saving energy.
The most advanced US city in terms of preparation for peak oil is Portland, Oregon. The Portland Peak Oil Task Force has recently published an 86-page report, 'Descending the Oil Peak: Navigating the Transition from Oil and Natural Gas'. The report was produced over the course of six months and 40 meetings involving dozens of policymakers, experts, stakeholders and interested citizens who prepareda draft document for public comment. The final version of the report was approved by the City Council in March 2007.
The final report includes recommendations to reduce oil use and strengthen the communitys ability to respond to social and economic stress. The report which can be viewed online is packed with detailed plans to reduce Portlands exposure to peak oil in the areas of transport, infrastructure, town planning, food production and distribution and social cohesion.
The key priorities identified by Portland are:
Reduce total oil and natural gas consumption by 50 percent over the next 25 years.
Inform citizens about peak oil and foster community and community-based solutions.
Engage business, government and community leaders to initiate planning and policy change.
Support land use patterns that reduce transportation needs, promote walkability and provide easy access to services and transportation options.
Design infrastructure to promote transportation options and facilitate efficient movement of freight, and prevent infrastructure investments that would not be prudent given fuel shortages and higher prices.
Encourage energy-efficient and renewable transportation choices.
Expand building energy-efficiency programs and incentives for all new and existing structures.
Preserve farmland and expand local food production and processing.
Identify and promote sustainable business opportunities.
Redesign the safety net and protect vulnerable and marginalized populations.
Prepare emergency plans for sudden and severe shortages.
Each of these 11 major recommendations is accompanied by a series of action items detailing how it can be implemented.
About a dozen other US cities have passed a peak oil resolution, or are in the process of doing so. In general their approaches have the following points in common:
Grassroots advocacy began the process. A partnership of government and citizens was used to assess the issue and work on legislation
A champion in city government or a related agency helped the citizensf groups
Action oriented programs are developed through task force study
Comprehensive issues are being studied in all cases - not just focused on transportation
In Merton, such a review could acheive an overall policy framework leading to subsequent steps such as:
Designing an energy-efficient and renewable public transport system that will reduce energy demand, and expand existing programmes such as road pricing and cycle lanes.
Preventing infrastructure investments that are not viable in a low energy society.
Developing rigorous energy efficiency and energy conservation programmes that help businesses and individuals to reduce their oil dependency, with an awards scheme to generate enthusiasm.
Providing incentives for energy-efficient buildings, both new and existing.
Making Energy Impact Assessments along the lines of existing Environmental Impact Assessments - compulsory for all new projects and buildings. EIAs would be used to optimise energy efficiency or indeed cancel projects/buildings that will be inappropriate in an energy-constrained world.
Supporting the growth of businesses that supply renewable and energy-efficient solutions.
Finding ways to encourage local food production and processing.
Developing sustainable, low energy waste and water management and recycling systems.
In my view the scrutiny panel should be speaking to Merton's Energy Officer to find out what resources he would require to carry out a full oil vulnerability survey of the borough; of course Sustainable Merton to find out how to engage the community on such a review; Merton's emergency planning officer; Merton's Sustsinability Officer; Transport for London and the existing public transport franchises; Merton Cycling Campaign and Pollards Hill Cyclists;
Sutton, Kingston, Wandsworth, Lambeth and Croydon Councils and community groups therin such as Transition Town Brixton, EcoLocal, Kingston Environment Network, Hyde Farm group and Spa Hill Allotment Society; and The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, an educational charity dedicated to raising awareness about the issue of oil and gas depletion.
http://www.odac-info.org/
If you want to let the scrutiny panel know what you would like them to review then you can fill out the online suggestion form at www.merton.gov.uk/scrutiny To find out more about how you can get involved in overview and scrutiny work, telephone the council on
020 8545 3390, email
scrutiny@merton.gov.uk or visit
www.merton.gov.uk/scrutiny.
Suggestions should be received by the Scrutiny Team by Tuesday 20 May 2008.
