Climate change panel to help develop action plan for Horsham district

The money will be mostly spent on consultants who will help to assemble a panel of experts to give advice and recommendations to the council.

Previous calls from Liberal Democrats to set up a citizens’ assembly instead were repeated during a meeting of the full council.

While that idea was voted down, leader Jonathan Chowen did recognise the need to more fully involve the public.

He said: “Part of putting climate change at the top of our agenda is we need to talk to residents and our community and engage with them – because this is a big problem.

“[But] it’s a bigger problem than we can solve on our own. We do need expert help to help us on this.”

Mr Chowen said he would work closely with James Wright, cabinet member for environment & rural affairs, to make sure the council engaged with community to help formulate a plan.

He added: “We do need the support of everybody.

“Our children understand the problem. Our grandchildren understand the problem. It’s up to us older people.

“Older people who are wiser and more experienced should by now be beginning to understand the problem.

“We have a climate emergency.”

Martin Boffey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “We as a council can’t do this alone.

“We know what the problems are – it’s about finding the solutions together with residents.

“Let’s get it right the first time. It will be cheaper in the long run.”

The council pledged to be net zero by 2030 – but carbon emissions from its buildings and vehicles only make up 1-2 per cent of those from the entire district.

The rest is down to residents and businesses – a problem which needs to be addressed quickly.

Mr Wright told the meeting the aim was to have an action plan agreed by the autumn.

He said the panel would be made up of national and local experts in the field of climate change, adding: “By using experts, we are able to quickly gather expertise to tackle the biggest issue of our day – creating a world that is fit for our children to live in.”

He told the meeting that the experts would be fully briefed to ensure the views of councillors were represented and their recommendations would have to be approved by the full council.

The meeting was told that a series of Big Conversations – public meetings – would be held throughout the process and that residents would be able to discuss and challenge the recommendations from the panel.

The meeting heard a lengthy debate about the pros and cons of opting for a citizens’ assembly.

While some felt they could turn into ‘talking shops’ – deviating from the point and taking too long to achieve too little – others felt they were a ‘first-class’ way of involving the community in an issue.

But Roger Noel (Con, Bramber, Upper Beeding & Woodmancote) said: “There’s a crisis on our hands, the clock is ticking – we can’t afford the time to consult with every single person who is interested in putting their views forward.”