It wasn't the political discourse that was frosty during a recent Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (SMDC) meeting, it was the room itself.

A numbers of councillors from the authority had left the meeting on Monday night – which was nearly three hours long – by the time the agenda on climate change came to be discussed.

Their absences were attributed to the chilly conditions in Moorlands House, with councillors repeatedly referencing how cold the room was.

The doors of the council chamber are understood to have been left open during the hybrid meeting in which some councillors joined via Microsoft Teams.

Those in the chamber were left suffering, and the irony wasn't lost on some that climate change was on their agenda for discussion.

Committee chair Cllr David Shaw joked "we now go on to something very appropriate, because I'm freezing" as he introduced the agenda time.

He added: "You've got about ten seconds starting now before I freeze solid!"

The council's cabinet member for climate change and biodiversity, Cllr Joe Porter asked for his future updates to be included nearer the beginning of the agenda so it could be heard by more councillors.

Referencing those who'd left the council chamber, he said: "With it being such an important issue, it would be better if there were more people in the chamber to hear it next time!"

As the discussions came to a close, Cllr Paul Roberts asked: "Can I just make a suggestion?

"We've had six or seven items on the agenda tonight, and I'm sorry, you know, I'm not as cold as everybody else, but it is getting a bit strenuous. Three hours.

"I think we need to limit – with having climate change, which does take quite a bit of time – I think we need to limit on how many item agendas we put on.

"Even if we have to have more meetings in a year, I would prefer that.

"Like we've said, one or two members have left because it is cold in this chamber."

Cllr Shaw agreed with Cllr Roberts, and invited him to propose a limit of three agenda items per meeting.

Shaw remarked "Gosh, everybody's excited about this" as the motion was approved.

The meeting also incorporated presentations from Citizen's Advice and Support Staffordshire as well as the council's social housing provider Your Housing Group.

Questions asked of the representatives from Your Housing Group included a discussion on ground source heat pumps and renewable sources of energy.

The housing provider confirmed it was undertaking a small scale trial of the technology to learn more about how it could be used, whilst also exploring other solutions as part of an ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2050.