Hull: Why reaching net zero and adapting to climate risk are significant challenges
Hull aims to be a carbon-neutral city by 2030. Here, the council sets out its ambitions
Hull aims to be a carbon-neutral city by 2030. Here, the council sets out its ambitions #UKhousingGo back to the Cities Encyclopaedia
How is it going with your approach to decarbonisation, and what have been the key learnings to date?
As a city, our decarbonisation journey has a long tail. At least since the early 1990s, we have been developing and delivering housing regeneration schemes that addressed the thermal performance of homes in both the public and private sector to reduce fuel poverty and drive co-benefits in aspiration, health and educational attainment. We have been part of innovative approaches such as housing action trusts, Housing Market Renewal Gateways and the Single Regeneration Budget.
As decarbonisation has become a greater driving force, we continue to develop and deliver housing-fabric schemes and deliver pilot zero-carbon heating solutions. Across the city, we are at the heart of the energy transition. The Siemens Gamesa offshore-wind manufacturing site is located here, which employs 1,400 people and delivers turbines for the UK and the overseas market. We are also home to Ideal, one of the UK’s largest heating companies, which has established a national training centre for air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) and manufactures them in the city.
These opportunities enabled Hull to develop new approaches to ensure local people get jobs in the net-zero economy. Hull Training and Adult Education has run multiple bootcamps and the University of Hull is very active in the field of energy, with master’s degrees in flood management and renewables a key feature of its curriculum. The city is also addressing longstanding national gender inequality in manufacturing and engineering through programmes such as Women into Manufacturing and Engineering.
However, as a city, we recognise that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the heart of the economy. Through a partnership established by consumer goods company Reckitt, the council, business network Future Humber and the university, we developed the Oh Yes! Net Zero project to support the SME sector. This focuses on business-to-business support to help companies understand their carbon emissions and how they can reduce them, engaging local supply chains to increase skills to make them more competitive and put them in a position to meet customer demands.
In our endeavour to retrofit and future-proof our homes, we have been taken advantage of government funding in its various forms, including the Local Authority Delivery scheme, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and the Energy Company Obligation. Early engagement with residents has been key in order for them to fully understand and reap the benefits of decarbonising their homes.
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Has anything in the scale of work required surprised you?
Reaching net zero and adapting to climate risk are significant challenges. The scale is immense, but it is the pace of change required that is the most challenging. As a city, we have only 20 years to become net zero and 15 years to be a net-zero organisation, which means the next 10 years are fundamental to long-term success. The change cannot be left until the last minute.
The change in how we embed carbon impact and risk costs requires different ways of thinking about solutions. The surprise is really in how quickly we need to develop new skills at a scale and pace that will fundamentally change our understanding of placemaking: understanding what a fair transition looks like and how we deliver it alongside our communities, residents or businesses.
“We developed the Oh Yes! Net Zero project to support the SME sector to understand its carbon emissions and how it can reduce them”
Net zero and decarbonisation are one challenge, but how do you balance the scale of what needs to happen with other activities such as building affordable homes, regeneration, updating transport infrastructure and delivering improved local services?
It is not incompatible. Embedding net zero and adaptation within all other projects is essential to delivering this agenda. If we do not do this, we add expensive retrofit costs to projects in only a few years’ time. Embedding climate change within programmes ensures the best use of the investment we and others make in the city. We do not see these as either/or choices.
When considering new housing and regeneration, sustainability is at the forefront of what we do, especially with regard to sustainable heating solutions and Biodiversity Net Gain. No longer is sustainability a bolt-on, retrospective consideration, but an upfront, incorporated consideration to ensure good-quality design and sustainable homes and communities are achieved. In the journey to net zero and decarbonisation, we need to be mindful that we do not push people further into fuel poverty, and look at solutions which benefit both the environment and our more vulnerable residents.
How much does the city have to consider adaptation for climate-related impacts when planning for the future?
Mitigation and adaptation are at the heart of our approach to the city’s future.
After London, Hull is the second most vulnerable city to flooding in the UK. Our response to the flooding in 2007 was to create Living with Water, a partnership that established Hull as one of the first global water resilient cities. This brings together Hull City Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC), the Environment Agency and utility company Yorkshire Water. Significant infrastructure was created, including aquagreen flood risk management projects and a blue-green plan totalling £1.5bn.
Through the Adaptation Reporting Power local government pilot, Hull is thinking beyond flooding to the other risks detailed in the national Climate Change Risk Assessment, to understand how the council will be affected. We are also developing a city adaptation strategy.
When undertaking large-scale programmes across communities, which principles underpin your engagement approach?
Dane Park, a new housing scheme addressing the climate and nature emergency, is one of the five ambitions in our community plan and corporate plan. Data shows the site is in the most deprived ward in the country for fuel poverty. On the back of this, and the fact that Hull has declared a climate emergency, we pushed forward with ASHP and solar panels to help with the soaring costs associated with heating and hot water. The formal planning process allows input from the community; we engaged with ward members and housing staff, via newsletters and on the official council website; and there were the usual contributions from the Environment Agency, flood team and other stakeholders.
Engagement and prior consultation have been key to ensuring our retrofit schemes are successful and that our residents are on board for the journey, as the work carried out on their homes can be extremely disruptive.
How do you link meeting housing demand, regeneration, transport upgrades and decarbonisation?
The strategic context links these agendas. Our local plan is being revised to embed climate change to a greater extent because of the net-zero targets set for the city. Managing these elements has always been integral to our approach in Hull, as we are a tightly bounded city and therefore competition for land use has always been a consideration.
Our placemaking approach uses regeneration in its widest sense to drive employment opportunities for residents and to create a city that is attractive both in terms of its built environment and its nature and climate response.
We also work closely with funders who support decarbonisation, for example Homes England and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, as well as neighbouring authorities, namely ERYC, through devolution discussions.
“Residents benefit from our fabric-first approach to retrofitting through reduced fuel bills and warmer, healthier homes”
What impact has the cost of living crisis had on your long-term investment plans across these complementary agendas?
Like the rest of the local government sector, we have to meet residents’ greater expectations and requirements on a shrinking budget. The cost of living crisis has only increased these pressures. However, this has also led the council to focus on efficiency and maximising the co-benefits of investment. Joining up budgets and solutions enables long-term investment.
Looking at the challenges around net zero and climate risk through our local area energy plan and adaptation strategy mean we can understand how the transitions will play out over the long term and develop investable propositions for funders.
Costs associated with new housing delivery have increased considerably, whether this be labour, fuel or raw materials, compounded by a fall in the housing market and availability of mortgages. This means schemes have been delayed or repriced, which has a knock-on affect on timescales and delivery. As an authority, we are trying to increase our direct delivery to ensure a constant flow of new housing.
In terms of our residents, the cost of living crisis has increased fuel poverty in the city. Therefore, our residents benefit from our fabric-first approach to retrofitting through reduced fuel bills and warmer, healthier homes.
This article was originally published in May 2024
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