50 new public EV charge points among ambitious climate action plans being delivered by the council
A report documenting Telford & Wrekin Council’s progress in tackling climate change and addressing single-use plastics has been approved by the local authority’s cabinet.
The update report on the council’s Becoming Carbon Neutral action plan noted the organisation’s latest emissions figures, showing a 57% reduction since the council’s baselines were benchmarked in 2019.
The report also identified ways in which the authority will continue to pursue its climate action agenda over the coming months, including plans to install 50 public electric vehicle charge points in car parks across the borough.
Noting an independent study by Climate Emergency UK which put Telford and Wrekin Council in the top 10 single tier authorities for climate action planning, the council’s update also highlighted a number of the actions the authority has taken to date to deliver its significantly reduced carbon footprint.
These actions include:
- Delivering a range of energy efficiency and renewable energy installations in eight council buildings identified as having the largest emissions
- Installing an air source heat pump and thermal insulation at Newport Leisure Centre, reducing the pool depth and installing LED lighting, meaning the site will save 566,863kWh a year (the same amount of energy typically used by 182 houses)
- Reducing council business mileage in private cars by 59.8% compared to pre-pandemic mileage levels
The council’s action plan also seeks to embed sustainability across all service areas, to encourage borough-wide carbon reductions, to raise awareness within the local community regarding climate action and single-use plastics, and to drive positive behaviour change.
The update report notes that these goals have been delivered though a number of initiatives including:
- Developing 46 x sustainable Nuplace homes at Southwater Way (built and managed by the council), fitted with photovoltaic panels which have been estimated to save each household as much as £900 per year in energy bills and reduce each building’s carbon footprint by more than 400kg of carbon emissions annually when compared to traditional energy sources
- Creating a Climate Change Fund to support local groups and small businesses with grants of up to £10,000 to help them realise projects to reduce their carbon footprint
- Hosting a Youth Climate Change Summit to raise awareness and harness valuable insight and ideas from local young people
- Launching a Telford & Wrekin Plastic Free Pledge communications campaign, encouraging residents to reduce their reliance on single-use plastics
Cllr Carolyn Healy (Lab), cabinet member for climate change, green spaces, natural and historic environment and cultural services, said:
“In 2019 we committed to making our operations carbon neutral by 2030 – 20 years ahead of the government’s deadline – and, in spite of the enormous upheaval of the last couple of years, we’re nonetheless making very good progress.
“I’m delighted to present the wide range of initiatives set out in this report, not least the 50 public electric vehicle charging points that we plan to install in car parks across the borough.
“We are reducing plastics and taking climate action across all service areas, and are bringing our community along with us.
“We have given ourselves an ambitious climate action timeline – but it’s one we are determined to meet. With eight years left, and having already reduced our emissions by 57% over the last three years, we are confident that we will be able to achieve carbon neutrality for council operations by 2030.”
