BUSINESS AS USUAL

STOCKPORT Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and since then has produced their Climate Action Now document that says ‘We will incorporate climate impact assessment into everything we do by incorporating it into decision making, report templates and all key strategies’

On 9th February, however the cabinet of the council gave the go ahead to more office space and a 400 space multi storey car park at the Stockport Exchange development close to Stockport train station and in doing so ignored its own declaration

The Stockport Express reported that Cllr David Meller the cabinet member for Economy and Regeneration insisted it did not mean the council had forgotten about its green ambitions.

He then went on to say: “That’s not to suggest by any means that we are expecting cars to be piling in, or that we are taking our eye off active transport and public transport - that’s absolutely not the case.”

So, does this mean that the council is allowing a car park that may not be needed?

The thing that is being overlooked in all of the proposed infrastructure projects in Stockport is that construction itself emits carbon dioxide gas that leads to global warming and climate change. Concrete manufacture produces 8% of global emissions and steel produces 5%.

At the last Council meeting I asked about the carbon emissions of these projects, but I did not get an answer. To meet the Paris Agreement, Stockport has to reduce emissions by 13% per year, but how can we meet this target if we are building so many structures in Stockport and we do not know how much carbon dioxide is released in their construction. A car park will also increase vehicle use and add to climate change. Office space may not be needed post covid 19.

For the council, in spite of their words on the climate, it seems unfortunately to be business as usual. Deborah Hind Bramhall Lane South ●●SEE page six