Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    the findings of the ‘Carbon Neutral Cheltenham – Leadership through Stewardship’ report and its associated roadmap be considered and endorsed;

2.    provision be made in the 2020/2021 budget to make the resources available to deliver the 2030 roadmap (section  7 of the report);

3.    the resources needed to deliver the actions required to meet the 2030 carbon neutrality targets be considered, prioritised and identified;

4.    an annual reporting process be developed to effectively track progress;

5.    authority be delegated to the Executive Director People & Change and the Director of Environment, to develop the roadmap into a realistic action plan for project delivery, with appropriate business case development taking account of the impact on the Council’s financial position.

The Cabinet Member Corporates Services introduced the report, he explained  that  in February 2019, Full Council unanimously called on the Cabinet to declare a Climate Emergency and had requested that a report be brought back with the local actions that the Council intended to take to address the emergency. The report outlined the actions needed and an indicative timetable, as well as the initial resources required. On 14^th October 2019, Full Council unanimously endorsed the recommendations as outlined in the report.

The Cabinet Member thanked Councillor Wilkinson for bringing such an important motion forward.

The Leader highlighted the key role that the council had to play in terms of leadership on such an important topic and welcomed the recommendations in the report. He acknowledged that an additional £150,000 was needed to facilitate the initiates  and that maximising community input was paramount. He further noted that one of the key objectives of the Cheltenham Transport Plan was to encourage modal shift which was essential in tackling climate change.

RESOLVED THAT: