Telford & Wrekin: Residents to air views over climate change action

Telford and Wrekin Borough Climate Change Partnership has launched a public consultation exercise over its draft action plan in a bid to help tackle the crisis.

The council wants its own operations to become carbon neutral by 2030 and hopes the borough will be able to meet the same target.

Chiefs are now working with more than 30 organisations including businesses, educational establishments, community groups, town and parish councils and other public sector organisations to set up the Telford and Wrekin Borough Climate Change Partnership.

As a result of the partnership the climate change challenges that could be addressed locally have been identified and action plan has been designed for the borough.

Telford and Wrekin's cabinet member for climate change Councillor Carolyn Healy said: “We’ve already made excellent progress in reducing our carbon footprint in the borough – we saw a 36 per cent decrease in emissions from the council’s operations in 2019/20 compared to the previous baseline year.

"And our Climate Change Fund has just awarded over £100,000 in grants to 31 local organisations to fund projects that help them reduce their carbon footprint.

“But there’s more to do to achieve our carbon neutral target, so we’re delighted to be working with community partners on this borough-wide project.

“For people who’d like to find out more about our Climate Change Action Plan or ask any questions about the consultation, I’ll be hosting a ‘virtual’ live Q&A session on Facebook with a panel made up of members of our partnership in July – details will be posted on Telford & Wrekin Council’s social media channels soon.”

Sustainability consultant and eco committee lead at Hollinswood Primary School & Nursery, Susanne Bearblock added: “We’ve had lots of ideas but we’d love to hear where local people would like us to focus our climate change efforts. It’s really easy to submit feedback – just follow the link to the consultation website.

“We’re keen to hear from the next generation too, so we’ll be working with schools to get children involved.

“They’ll be encouraged to advance their own learning through an interactive workshop, with groups of children working together to research six main themes including renewable energy; sustainable transport; trees and biodiversity; growing food and farming; learning and sharing; and business and industry.

Sharing what they’ve learned with their peers, the children will then vote together to put forward their priorities for sustainable action in the borough.”

Fore more details about the action plan residents are invited to visit the website sustainabletelfordandwrekin.com/Partnershipactionplan. Deadline for comments is July 16.