Green action plan ‘benign’

DERBYSHIRE County Council has pledged its support to an ‘optimistic’ environmental action plan, however some have criticised its ‘benign’ content for failing to set adequate targets to tackle climate change.

In a meeting of full council last Wednesday, Tory Councillor Wayne Major, chairman of the climate change scrutiny committee, put forward a motion to address climate change.

However the county council’s only Green Party member, Cllr Gez Kinsella, said he was ‘hugely disappointed’ by the report, adding that it had been heavily amended prior to full council and effectively rendered ‘benign’.

His concerns were echoed by Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Ed Fordham, who said targets had been removed from the document.

In presenting the report, Cllr Major said: “I am very much an optimist that as a human race we need to change the way we interact with the world and change our impact on the world. For many years, since the industrial revolution, we have had a linear economy where we extract raw materials, use it and then dispose of it.”

He added the authority needed to become a ‘circular economy’, reusing materials as much as possible and that the authority needed to address emissions and other toxins that are released into the air.

The report set out 14 resolutions for the council, which included:

Support the creation of a Local Nature Recovery Strategy that sits within the national Nature Recovery Network and underpins all planning, development and land decisions.

Demonstrate leadership by educating and supporting businesses and the public to take action.

Request that the head of paid service designates a council employee to coordinate council operations in relation to nature’s recovery

Provide training and resources for councillors and council staff

Members voted to approve the motion.