Public urged to have their say on the borough’s Climate Emergency response plans

Cheshire West and Chester Council has, today, published a draft Climate Emergency Response Plan and Carbon Management Plan setting out the scale of the challenge that we face as a borough to tackle climate change and the actions we can take, collectively, to become carbon neutral.

The draft plans are available to view online: www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/climateemergency and residents, businesses and community groups are encouraged to send in their feedback and views on the proposed plans by the 6 January 2021.

The plans have been published following the Council’s unanimous decision in May 2019 to declare a Climate Emergency and to set the borough an ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2045.

Since this time, the Council has been working and engaging with a range of partners, climate experts, community groups and businesses to understand the challenges and opportunities the Climate Emergency presents for the area. The information gathered from this engagement work has helped to shape both plans.

The draft Climate Emergency Response Plan is guided by scientific evidence on the current state of emissions in west Cheshire and outlines the action required to become a carbon neutral borough by 2045.

The plan focuses on six key themes, including housing, energy and transport, and sets out the current situation for each of these areas and the targets for the borough. Under each theme, the plan sets out local actions the Council will take and how it will work with partners and the Government to achieve these targets, whilst also providing clear advice about how residents can play their part to help achieve carbon neutrality.  

The draft Carbon Management Plan focuses on the Council as an organisation and sets out the actions the Council needs to take to be carbon neutral by 2030, an ambitious target that was agreed at a full Council meeting earlier this year. The plan provides an overview of the Council’s current position and outlines the targets to reduce emissions throughout Council services over the next ten years. 

Councillor Matt Bryan, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, said: “When we declared a Climate Emergency in 2019, we knew that as a Council we couldn’t tackle climate change alone. West Cheshire is an area with one of the highest carbon footprints in the UK due to our large industrial base, presenting us with a unique challenge but also an opportunity for us to work together as a borough to be innovative and develop solutions to reduce CO2e emissions in the area.

“This world-wide issue requires action to be taken collectively, and over the last year, The Climate Emergency Taskforce, which oversees the borough’s response to the challenge, has been working with partners, climate experts, residents, community groups and businesses to gather evidence, information and advice to feed into our response plans. 

“These two draft plans show our ambition as a borough to cut carbon emissions and how we all need to play our part to achieve our targets. They are a collaborative effort and it’s important that before they are finalised people have the opportunity to share their views.”

Tackling the Climate Emergency is one of the six main challenges identified as part of the Council’s four-year Council Plan: Play your part to thrive.

The public can submit their response to the plans by the 6 January 2021 by emailing: Climatechange@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk. The final plans are due to be presented to full Council in February 2021.

Pictured - Cllr Matt Bryan