Cheshire East agrees Carbon Neutral Action Plan

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Cheshire East's cabinet held their first 'virtual' online meeting on Tuesday, 5th May, where members agreed the council's first carbon neutral action plan.

Following the council meeting on 22 May 2019, elected members unanimously approved a notice of motion, which requested that an environment strategy was brought forward as a matter of urgency. The motion noted the climate emergency and committed Cheshire East Council to reduce its own emissions and become carbon neutral by 2025.

The action plan focusses on the initial actions that Cheshire East Council will take to not only deliver the 2025 target, but also how the council will encourage all businesses, residents and organisations to reduce emissions.

Councillor Nick Mannion, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for environment and regeneration, said: "In May 2019, the council noted the UK declaration of a climate emergency and committed to being carbon neutral by 2025.

"As part of this commitment, we will encourage all businesses, residents and organisations in Cheshire East to limit their carbon footprint by reducing energy consumption and promoting healthy lifestyles.

"I'd like to thank the teams that have worked tirelessly on ensuring that the carbon neutral action plan remains a priority for the council during such difficult times. I'm proud of the work that has gone into the plan, which clearly sets out how we will build on our carbon reduction work to date, in order to reach our ambitious carbon neutral target by 2025.

"The plan will help to ensure that we all continue to work together to make a real impact on the future sustainability of the borough."

Councillors agreed the action plan, which sets out:

● How the council will drive behaviour change and culture internally, including reducing business travel and increasing staff engagement and awareness of carbon neutrality;

● Measures to ensure that the carbon neutral ambition has been considered in every major investment and policy decision;

● Details of how less energy and fuel could be used in council operations, such as switching to low-emission vehicles and reducing energy demand from new and existing buildings;

● Plans to improve the supply of green energy by using low carbon, renewable sources such as solar panels and working to promote renewables with others;

● Opportunities to capture carbon, through tree planting and restoring degraded peatlands; and

● Priority actions identified to reduce borough-wide emissions.

Click here to view the document.

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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Howard Piltz
Wednesday 6th May 2020 at 9:54 am
Congratulations to Councillors, these plans are a great start. Now go forth and RAM the message home, we’ve all seen the big difference to pollution levels over the last month or so, now try to maintain it. HOWEVER, carbon trading is a cop-out, start by introducing battery powered refuse collection trucks.
Andrew Backhouse
Wednesday 6th May 2020 at 4:31 pm
I attended the (virtual) Cabinet meeting yesterday to ask a question on behalf of Transition Wilmslow and the Cheshire East Climate Alliance - sustainability groups from across the county. We were concerned that, whilst well meaning, the targets in the Carbon Action plan and strategy were weak and many things suggested by their researchers ( a firm called Anthesis) and the public in consultation were ignored. It was quite rewarding to hear people from all parties talking positively about the actions suggested and how they might be strengthened and monitored. This included encouraging the Climate Alliance to suggest stronger, clearer targets. We can be looking forward to new ways to get us using our streets more safely, with less cars and more walking and cycling, encouragement to plant trees on verges (something that was apparently stopped by the last administration), more restoration of peat bogs, and increased electric or hydrogen powered vehicles. The value, though, of on line meetings like this one, in cutting carbon, had not been included. Overall, it was a very positive meeting with all working together for the common good - not my image of council meetings!
Tony Haluradivth
Thursday 7th May 2020 at 8:50 am
The batteries for all these millions of (not cheap electric vehicles come from West Africa). Mining for rare earth minerals for electric vehicles is not "Green" don't delude yourselves folks. Read up on the damage done to these areas and the sickness in local children as a result of lithium harvesting. More eco hypocrisy at it's finest. Hydrogen is where we should be chanelling the research Howard Piltz is right about that. On Heyes Lane we have had more polution during lockdown thanks to the idiot council closing the B5047 to Macclesfield. All the diesel pollution now is a result of more misinformed Green zealotry advising Gordon Browns government to push diesel and go for scrappage of petrol vehicles. Most of this is spin and nonsense enforced by the actions of an odd child in Sweden.
Simon Worthington
Monday 11th May 2020 at 5:30 pm
Thanks Tony - a voice of reason. Question also why China is one of the few places mining "rare elements" . The vast polution it causes. One will note that the climate change enthusiasts all have a new phone in one hand and a single use bottle of water in the other but of course that is not negotiable. The costs of generating the electricity needed to produce hydrogen negates all the possible benefits and perhaps the amount of wildlife killed by wind turbines would refocus a few minds should it be given the same publicity.
Man made climate change is the new religion and dissenters are treated as blasphemous, ignorant, stupid etc. Same insults as used on the section of society that doesn't worship the EU!!
I would rather East Cheshire Council spend the tax payers hard earned cash doing what they are employed to do rather than virtue signalling and pontificating on subjects they neither have the education nor ability to understand. The whole issue of "scientists" and their vested interests has been brutally exposed during the current over reaction to the coronavirus. Mein Kampf illustrates the effectiveness of "the big lie".
"All this was inspired by the principle—which is quite true within itself—that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods."
Tony Haluradivth
Monday 11th May 2020 at 10:25 pm
Beautifully expressed Simon perhaps if CEC Councillors are on this site they will reflect on your wise words and instead of banging on with an Extinction Rebellion agenda they should attend to the mundane issue of pothole repairs sharpish so more hapless cyclists are not injured by neglected 9cm deep holes and require the Council to submit 4 figure payouts. The Science (as with CoVid 19) is NOT settled on man made Climate c
Change as it is merely an expensive hypothesis.