Council ‘making progress’ toward carbon zero target
HYNDBURN council says “significant progress” has been made towards its pledge for net-zero carbon activities by 2030 as an organisation.
It comes after the local authority declared a climate emergency in 2019.
Coun Kate Walsh, Green Ambassador for Hyndburn, said: “A huge amount of progress has been made after a ‘One Carbon World Footprint’ study recommended we make decarbonisation a priority, particularly combatting the gas usage in the council’s buildings.
“The action was taken immediately in Hyndburn and an investment of £2.3m was secured from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which is funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and is delivered by Salix Finance, to sit alongside council investment.”
The works being undertaken at Hyndburn Leisure Centre alone are projected to decrease carbon emissions of the building by 75 per cent once complete.
The measures and adjustments being put in place aim to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the council and off-set carbon emissions.
Coun Walsh added: “I am proud to say that due to hard work and quick action this decarbonisation work is now near completion on priority buildings, predicted to be finalised this summer.
“Hyndburn Leisure Centre and Scaitcliffe House have both had extensive works undertaken and a full transformation of their energy infrastructure will mean a significant step forward towards the net-zero carbon pledge.
“Scaitcliffe House works are almost finished, and the Leisure Centre is well on the way to be completed by the summer.
“These important ongoing works may cause some disruption for customer and staff over the coming weeks.
“I would like to say thank you to everyone for their patience and understanding whilst contractors and partners all work as quickly as possible to get this vital transformation completed.”
In addition to the investment from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, £1m of council reserves was also allocated to contribute towards tackling global warming and to enable the urgent changes needed to safeguard the future.
Other climate change initiatives being undertaken by the council include community tree and woodland programmes, progressively switching vehicle fleets to electric and procurement of green tariff electricity contracts going forward.