Crawley councillors back a more ambitious net zero target

Councillors have agreed to make changes to Crawley’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, pledging to reduce emissions to ‘as close to net zero as possible by 2030’.
Crawley Town Hall. Pic Steve Robards SR2102021 SUS-210202-115716001Crawley Town Hall. Pic Steve Robards SR2102021 SUS-210202-115716001
Crawley Town Hall. Pic Steve Robards SR2102021 SUS-210202-115716001

In November, the cabinet agreed a plan to reduce emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050.

But there was a feeling among some that this was not ambitious enough and didn’t reflect the urgency of the situation, especially as nearly two-thirds of local authorities in England – including West Sussex County Council – have pledged to reach net zero by 2030.

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During a meeting of the full council on Wednesday (December 15), Conservative leader Duncan Crow tabled a notice of motion calling on the council to pledge to reduce emissions by at least 50 per cent – and as close to net zero as possible – by 2030, and to reach net zero by 2040 at the latest.

Mr Crow stressed the need for the council to ‘lead by example’ and acknowledged that some ‘difficult decisions’ would have to be made to meet the pledge.

He added: “This is something that has to be above politics – we do need to continue to work together.

“Governments will come and go, administrations of this council will come and go but the need to address climate change will not go.”

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There was unanimous support for the motion, with Peter Smith (Lab, Ifield) urging officers to ‘evolve’ the plan to the next stage as soon as possible – and also to come up with suggestions for funding the plan going forward.

Leader Peter Lamb (Lab, Northgate & West Green) added that the council would have to ‘change the way a lot of services are provided in ways that will be deeply unpopular’ if it was to live up to its pledge.

This could mean anything from stopping the weekly refuse collections and bringing in more recycling schemes to lowering the temperature of the swimming pool at the K2 leisure centre – the biggest single contributor of CO2 from within the council’s estate.

When it came to the behavioural changes needed among the general public, Mr Crow stressed the needed for education over enforcement.

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He said: “We need to win hearts and minds rather than lecture people and tell them what they can and can’t do.”

The Local Government Association has warned that ‘councils cannot do this alone’.

A spokesman added: “As individuals, we each have a responsibility to change how we live on a day-to-day basis to reduce the further onset of dangerous climate change.

“We can all play our part together and then many small changes will multiply into a large contribution.”

Suggested changes included:

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• Limiting the use of central heating while working from home

• Increasing how much we recycle

• Reducing our use of single-use plastic such as bottled water

• Reducing our car use; cycling and walking more

• Reducing how much we buy, and

• Obtaining a reusable face mask rather than using the disposable ones.