Questions on climate emergency

THE climate emergency was the focus for much of the council meeting held on Thursday, September 23.

As part of the evening, residents were able to ask questions to the ruling executive, and there were three that related to eco matters.

Helen Palmer wanted to know if the council would declare support for the e Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill.

This, she said, requires the country to take responsibility for issues including greenhouse gas emissions, restoring habitats, and addressing waste disposal. She pointed out that the bill had support from 115 MPs and 103 councils.

Would Wokingham borough become the 104th?

Cllr Gregor Murray, the executive member for emissions, said the council had already set up targets that will help to protect and support biodiversity in the borough and the council had a strong track record on climate change.

He added that the council would wait on the result of the vote before reviewing the “potential implication on the function of local government, our residents and resources”.

Ms Palmer warned that the whole world could be affected by a collapse in the ecosystem, and accepted that while some things were happening locally to tackle this, “I don’t think what the government is doing is strong enough” and urged Cllr Murray to back the bill.

Cllr Murray said he could not comment on government policy, but only on what they were doing in the borough and pledged to increase biodiversity.

Daniela Esposito wanted to know if the 2019 climate emergency applied to both Wokingham borough and the council.

Cllr Murray said that the action plan had set targets to decarbonise council operations and cited the new Dinton Pastures activity centre as an example of this.

“Within the council, we are working on reducing our carbon footprint by improving the energy performance of buildings, installing electric vehicle charging points, promoting home working, reviewing our policies, promoting changes in behaviour and finding innovative ways to support our community,” he added.

Ms Esposito wanted to know if the council and the borough’s progress could be charted separately, something that Cllr Murray said he hadn’t considered previously.

“We’ve always just wrapped the two things together,” he said. “I can see no reasons why we would or why we wouldn’t. I will consult with officers to see if it’s possible.”

And Andy Croy, until recently the Labour group leader on the council, questioned the costs of the planned solar farm in Barkham, saying that the 2020 Climate Emergency Action Plan published by the council included four solar farms at an estimated combined cost of £18 million, with a total of 25,560 tonnes of carbon saved.

This year’s plan showed the four solar farms but, Mr Croy said, “Barkham Farm by itself was now shown as costing £21 million. The cost of the remaining three farms was shown as ‘to be confirmed’.

“The cost of the Barkham solar farm is more than four time the original estimate while current Climate Emergency Action Plan includes carbon savings estimates for three farms for which there are no costs attached,” he said.

“The plan is a living document; Given the extraordinarily inaccurate estimates as to costs of solar farms and totally misleading accounting for carbon savings, how can residents trust it?”

Cllr Murray said: “These targets and financial implications are best estimates based on the information we had at the time”, and that the solar farm in Barkham would be funded through “prudential borrowing”.

“It is envisaged that the other solar farms will be delivered on a similar basis and there is no evidence at this time to suggest that they will not demonstrate a similar return on investment to the Council when they are brought forward,” he added.

Responding, Mr Croy said that he felt sorry for Cllr Murray as “there is a lot of detail to keep track of in the plan … but this is at least an £80 million gap that to my knowledge has not been discussed to date. I am sure you and every Councillor will be dismayed at the magnitude of this problem”.

He asked: “In the light of this issue, do you think you have the commitment to transparency, the attention to detail and the competence to properly discharge the delegated authority requested for you in relation to the Barkham Farm project?”

Cllr Murray said that he felt Barkham Farm solar panel “stood up” as an investment and “with fuel prices the way they are at the moment we put in conservative estimates that will show that even after paying down the loan and interest on the loan … we will generate £400,000 in profit which we can invest in other climate emergency initiatives or other initiatives that residents want us to.

“With energy prices the way that they are at the moment, that conservative estimate is only going to be upwards, so we will be making an even greater return on that investment. I’ve been told (on Wednesday) that the equipment cost has been factored into the budget for this project still holds true.”

He concluded: “It’s a great investment and if it was my money I would still do it.”