Friends of the Earth hits out at planning policies

A COUNCIL in Yorkshire faces a tough challenge to meet climate-change targets and must deal with the “schizophrenia” between environmental and planning policies, a campaign group has claimed.

Members of Calderdale’s branch of the Friends of the Earth environmental organisation said efforts must be accelerated to achieve plans for the West Yorkshire district to achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2038.

Initial plans will involve halving carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 from just over a million tonnes of carbon a year to 550,000 tonnes, according to Mr Rae.

He added: “We’ve done an audit of decisions taken in the three years since a climate emergency was declared, and whilst there are both positive and negative developments, on balance it’s found that Calderdale Council’s response has been inadequate.”

The audit was presented to Calderdale Council at a cabinet meeting, when Mr Rae said a divergence between the council’s climate strategy and its draft Local Plan, a long-term blueprint for development which could be adopted this year, amounted to “schizophrenia”.

The Local Plan would embed an “unsustainable growth pattern” in Calderdale with increased highway capacity emissions in the 2020s, he said.

The cabinet member for climate change and resilience, Coun Scott Patient, stressed a lot more was being done in Calderdale than the audit suggested, including green and healthy streets policies and efforts to de-carbonisation public buildings.

He added the council was developing an action plan to reduce harmful carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming.