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Daily Record
06-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Perth and Kinross bin lorries will all soon run on Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil
Conservative councillors rubbished the move as "virtue signalling" and claimed the £100,000 would be better spent improving bus services All Perth and Kinross bin lorries will soon run on Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) - rather than diesel - reducing Perth and Kinross Council's (PKC) carbon emissions by an estimated 725 tonnes. Councillors last week voted on the move as part of its five-year Fleet Decarbonisation Strategy. However Conservative councillors slammed it as "virtue signalling" and voted for the £100,000, allocated for the fuel switchover, to instead be spent enhancing rural bus services. On Wednesday, April 30 PKC's Climate Change and Sustainability Committee was asked to consider the local authority's Fleet Decarbonisation Strategy. Part of the strategy included rolling out the use of HVO to the council's entire fleet of bin lorries following a trial at Friarton in Perth. Bin lorries based at depots in Blairgowrie, Crieff, Kinross, and Pitlochry will transition to using HVO fuel by June 2025. It was agreed HVO will be used to fuel all 80 of the council's heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) by the end of 2025. Direct Services manager Nigel Taylor said: "We have 18 of our 26 bin trucks on HVO at the moment and this saves us around 500 tonnes of carbon per annum and by the end of this year our carbon saving will have increased to around 725 tonnes because we'll have all 26 of our vehicles on HVO." Moving the plans for approval convener SNP Kinross-shire ward councillor Richard Watters said: "We have a moral and regulatory duty to aim towards a low carbon future." As part of the strategy, PKC will review options for charging infrastructure to support the transition of the council's fleet of cars and vans, under 3.5 tonnes, to electric vehicles. It will also potentially trial running HGVs on hydrogen in the future in partnership with Greencat Hydrogen based at the Binn Group site at Glenfarg. Conservative councillor David Illingworth raised concern decisions were being made on estimated costs in terms of transitioning from diesel to HVO fuel. PKC's strategic lead for Environment and Infrastructure Fraser Crofts said the price difference in switching from diesel to HVO had ranged from being 20p a litre to now being 15p a litre more expensive. He added: "Approximately half of that cost - estimated here at £100,000 - would be associated with the refuse vehicles and the other half of that would be associated with the rest of the heavy fleet. Obviously the refuse vehicles are not particularly efficient in terms of fuel economy so that's a substantive part of 80 vehicles in total - 26 of those are refuse vehicles." Cllr Illingworth tabled an amendment that the £100,000 allocated for the use of HVO across the council's entire HGV fleet be redirected to "enhancing rural bus routes", subject to the approval of PKC's Finance and Resources Committee. The Almond and Earn ward councillor said: "The real world is changing very quickly. Since we last met, in October, we have a new president of the United States. "And his view is 'drill baby drill'. At the same time, in the People's Republic of China, we've got a trainline transporting half a million tonnes of coal every day from Mongolia to a power station in Tianjin. "I think if we adopt more HVO it's like a drop in the ocean, it's like trying to whistle in a hurricane." SNP council leader Grant Laing said the move towards HVO was part of PKC's "joined-up approach" in conjunction with "looking at extra rail travel" and offering free bus travel one Saturday a month. SNP councillor Jack Welch feared the Conservative proposal would be "an absolute backwards step". The Strathmore ward councillor added: "I think the last person we should be following is Donald Trump." Independent councillor Dave Cuthbert said: "I'll be supporting the motion, not so much for myself but for the sake of my kids and grandkids." Cllr Illingworth added: "I'm in politics to make a difference. I don't believe using HVO will make any substantial difference. "I'm sure everybody has virtually the same thoughts about the legally elected new president but he is the legally elected new president and the global world is not going to make any difference. I'm concerned we're spending £100,000 a year for virtually no difference." But convener Richard Watters countered that saying there was no point was a "dangerous message to send out to the public". Cllr Watters added: "We will continue to make these small changes that will make a difference for future generations within Perth and Kinross. "And hopefully, if everyone does it, and we keep doing it, it will make a difference worldwide as well." The motion was approved by seven votes with all four Conservative councillors voting for the Conservative amendment. Following the meeting, Cllr Illingworth said: "It seems to me that spending £100,000 every year of council taxpayers' money on HVO from abroad would be much better spent closer to home on providing better bus services in rural villages such as Abernethy, Bridge of Earn and Methven. This is yet another example of the Scottish National Party wasting money on virtue signalling rather than providing good quality public services." Conservative councillor Angus Forbes added: "The difference running our bin lorries on HVO would make to our emissions is so small, it's probably not even measurable and what we run our bin lorries on won't help our residents. By transferring this money to our public transport unit to be used to support rural buses would probably have the same environmental benefit but, more importantly, it would actually help our residents."
STV News
05-05-2025
- Business
- STV News
Bin lorries across Perth and Kinross to run on vegetable oil
All Perth and Kinross bin lorries will soon run on Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) – rather than diesel – reducing Perth and Kinross Council's (PKC) carbon emissions by an estimated 725 tonnes. Councillors last week voted on the move as part of its five-year Fleet Decarbonisation Strategy. However Conservative councillors slammed it as 'virtue signalling' and voted for the £100,000, allocated for the fuel switchover, to instead be spent enhancing rural bus services. On Wednesday, April 30 PKC's Climate Change and Sustainability Committee was asked to consider the local authority's Fleet Decarbonisation Strategy. Part of the strategy included rolling out the use of HVO to the council's entire fleet of bin lorries following a trial at Friarton in Perth. Bin lorries based at depots in Blairgowrie, Crieff, Kinross, and Pitlochry will transition to using HVO fuel by June 2025. It was agreed HVO will be used to fuel all 80 of the council's heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) by the end of 2025. Direct Services manager Nigel Taylor said: 'We have 18 of our 26 bin trucks on HVO at the moment and this saves us around 500 tonnes of carbon per annum and by the end of this year our carbon saving will have increased to around 725 tonnes because we'll have all 26 of our vehicles on HVO.' Moving the plans for approval convener SNP Kinross-shire ward councillor Richard Watters said: 'We have a moral and regulatory duty to aim towards a low carbon future.' As part of the strategy, PKC will review options for charging infrastructure to support the transition of the council's fleet of cars and vans, under 3.5 tonnes, to electric vehicles. It will also potentially trial running HGVs on hydrogen in the future in partnership with Greencat Hydrogen based at the Binn Group site at Glenfarg. Conservative councillor David Illingworth raised concern decisions were being made on estimated costs in terms of transitioning from diesel to HVO fuel. PKC's strategic lead for Environment and Infrastructure Fraser Crofts said the price difference in switching from diesel to HVO had ranged from being 20p a litre to now being 15p a litre more expensive. He added: 'Approximately half of that cost – estimated here at £100,000 – would be associated with the refuse vehicles and the other half of that would be associated with the rest of the heavy fleet. Obviously the refuse vehicles are not particularly efficient in terms of fuel economy so that's a substantive part of 80 vehicles in total – 26 of those are refuse vehicles.' Cllr Illingworth tabled an amendment that the £100,000 allocated for the use of HVO across the council's entire HGV fleet be redirected to 'enhancing rural bus routes', subject to the approval of PKC's Finance and Resources Committee. The Almond and Earn ward councillor said: 'The real world is changing very quickly. Since we last met, in October, we have a new president of the United States. 'And his view is 'drill baby drill'. At the same time, in the People's Republic of China, we've got a trainline transporting half a million tonnes of coal every day from Mongolia to a power station in Tianjin. 'I think if we adopt more HVO it's like a drop in the ocean, it's like trying to whistle in a hurricane.' SNP council leader Grant Laing said the move towards HVO was part of PKC's 'joined-up approach' in conjunction with 'looking at extra rail travel' and offering free bus travel one Saturday a month. SNP councillor Jack Welch feared the Conservative proposal would be 'an absolute backwards step'. The Strathmore ward councillor added: 'I think the last person we should be following is Donald Trump.' Independent councillor Dave Cuthbert said: 'I'll be supporting the motion, not so much for myself but for the sake of my kids and grandkids.' Cllr Illingworth added: 'I'm in politics to make a difference. I don't believe using HVO will make any substantial difference. 'I'm sure everybody has virtually the same thoughts about the legally elected new president but he is the legally elected new president and the global world is not going to make any difference. I'm concerned we're spending £100,000 a year for virtually no difference.' But convener Richard Watters countered that saying there was no point was a 'dangerous message to send out to the public'. Cllr Watters added: 'We will continue to make these small changes that will make a difference for future generations within Perth and Kinross. 'And hopefully, if everyone does it, and we keep doing it, it will make a difference worldwide as well.' The motion was approved by seven votes with all four Conservative councillors voting for the Conservative amendment. Following the meeting, Cllr Illingworth said: 'It seems to me that spending £100,000 every year of council taxpayers' money on HVO from abroad would be much better spent closer to home on providing better bus services in rural villages such as Abernethy, Bridge of Earn and Methven. This is yet another example of the Scottish National Party wasting money on virtue signalling rather than providing good quality public services.' Conservative councillor Angus Forbes added: 'The difference running our bin lorries on HVO would make to our emissions is so small, it's probably not even measurable and what we run our bin lorries on won't help our residents. By transferring this money to our public transport unit to be used to support rural buses would probably have the same environmental benefit but, more importantly, it would actually help our residents.' 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Daily Record
01-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
Perth and Kinross Council to begin £2.2 million project to tackle ash dieback disease
While some funding is already in place, further budget decisions will need to be agreed to complete the full five-year programme Perth and Kinross councillors have unanimously agreed to begin a £2.2 million project to tackle ash dieback. Perhaps surprisingly the council responsible for Big Tree Country does not have its own tree surgeons and proposes to spend £1.9m on contractors removing at-risk trees. While a budget of £125,000 has been allocated from the council's revenue budget for 2025/26, further budget decisions will need to be approved to complete the five-year programme. Ash is the third most common broadleaf tree in the UK and a paper - put before councillors this week - reported current estimates are that "up to 90% of ash trees will die from the disease". On Wednesday, April 30 PKC's Climate Change and Sustainability Committee approved a strategy which will prioritise the highest risk trees first. The committee's convener SNP councillor Richard Watters described it as being an "efficient and effective method of pro-actively dealing with the problem". Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) has a legal responsibility to take action to prevent or minimise the risk of personal injury or property damage from trees on council-owned land. The local authority currently manages around 30,000 trees on its land - 1900 of which are ash. It is also estimated around 7,500 roadside trees may be affected. It was agreed PKC will work with landowners to take appropriate action, where required, to maintain road safety. Ash dieback is an airborne fungal disease, which - as it progresses - causes the wood to become brittle resulting in branches falling from the tree. In the most severe cases, the trees will die. On Wednesday, councillors were asked to approve a strategy which would see the council employ two surveyors for a year (£110,000) and an assistant trees and woodlands officer for three years (£150,000), as well as forking out £4000 on vehicle hire for a year for survey work and £5000 on GIS Survey software and equipment. The biggest outlay would be £1.9 million on contractors to remove priority dangerous trees on council land. As well as tree removal, a £41,000 replanting programme is planned. Where possible, the trees removed will be replaced with alder, sycamore, field maple and Norway maple trees at a ratio of around 3:1. Independent councillor Dave Cuthbert asked if there was value in the timber from trees which could offset the cost. Calum Bachell from the Community Greenspace team explained: "As part of our tree contractor's contract, the costs are reduced by them being able to take the timber for commercial use. The issue with trees with significantly progressed ash dieback is the timber becomes so brittle it's not particularly useful for commercial purposes." He added there were biodiversity benefits to leaving such timber on site and "where possible" the council will do that too. Conservative councillor Angus Forbes questioned why PKC - responsible for an area famed for its trees - does not have its own tree surgeons when other neighbouring councils do. The Carse of Gowrie councillor said: "One thing that has always confused me is that we don't actually employ our own tree surgeons. I know Dundee and Angus councils do, and with Dundee City Council you can rock up and buy timber to use as fuel in your house. Did we ever look at the opportunity to employ our own tree surgeons or perhaps use Angus Council's or Dundee City Council's tree surgeons to do this on our behalf?" Convener Richard Watters said he would "hope" it was something the council could look at going forward. Community Greenspace manager Andy Clegg said: "We're looking at a number of options for procurement at the moment. Traditionally all of our tree management, going back many years, has been through private contractors." "Certainly if there's an option for collaborative working in some areas or across a whole area with other councils, we'll certainly look at that." Independent councillor Dave Cuthbert suggested approaching Tayside Contracts - the collaborative and commercial trading arm of Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross councils. The Kinross-shire ward councillor - who represents PKC on the Tayside Contracts Joint Committee - said: "Obviously Angus and Dundee will have the same problem at some point. It would seem sensible to look to share that service with Tayside Contracts." Earlier this year the council's depute chief executive Clare Mailer said PKC was exploring "where there are opportunities for us to work more collaboratively across the Tayside Contracts model" after questions were raised over whether all three councils were using Tayside Contracts services as much as they should. Mr Clegg told councillors on Wednesday: "We've actually just had very recent contact with Tayside Contracts offering a number of services across the council area so we're in detailed discussions with them. And certainly that would be part of the procurement option, along with a number of other services we're considering too." Moving the ash dieback strategy for approval, the committee's convener SNP Kinross-shire councillor Richard Watters said: "This ash dieback strategy proposes an efficient and effective method of pro-actively dealing with the problem across Perth and Kinross in a prioritised and time-scaled way. "Significant additional funding will be needed to fully deliver the strategy and will be the subject of subsequent budget decisions outwith this committee. In the meantime, I'm pleased to say funding was set aside in this year's budget for this year and next year to allow a start to be made on surveying and recording the trees and developing a tender package for dealing with the highest risk trees first." Following the meeting a PKC spokesperson said: "A budget of £125,000 has been allocated from the council's revenue budget for 2025/26 and works will commence to identify and effectively deal with diseased trees on council managed land, and those affecting the adopted road network, in a prioritised way over a five-year period.
