Council to reveal how it plans to tackle climate emergency

A Norfolk council's first-ever strategy aimed at fighting climate change and creating a greener future will be revealed next month.

Breckland Council's first Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy will be shown to councillors at a council meeting on February 25.

The strategy comes after the council declared a climate emergency back in September 2019 and has since hired a dedicated environment and climate change officer to prioritise the council's sustainability programme.

The officer will also with councillors, people living in the district and local businesses to try and create a sustainable future across the district.

The strategy, which is currently being finalised in light of feedback from a public consultation held at the end of 2020, will then be presented to all members at a full council meeting on February 25.

Ian Sherwood, Breckland Council’s sustainability strategy champion, said: “We have already made good progress in making the council a more environmentally-sustainable organisation and making the whole district a greener place to live."

Since declaring a climate emergency, the council switched to a green energy tariff in all its buildings and announced it would let some grass verges grow longer to create bee-friendly habitats.

Breckland is also working with housing developers to install more bird boxes and other green features as part of the application process.

It is anticipated that the council will work towards achieving carbon neutral status in the future.