Issue - meetings

To receive an update on the progress the Council has made towards becoming carbon neutral.

The committee received the report which provided an update on the progress the Council had made towards being a carbon neutral council by 2025 and a carbon neutral borough by 2045.

A query was raised regarding peat restoration and the report which the Council had commissioned to evaluate peatland and mosses within the borough. It was noted that this piece of work would fall under the Economy and Growth Committee but it was agreed that the Environment and Communities Committee could be provided with a copy of the report. 

A further query was raised regarding tree planting in Congleton and whether that had been included in the figures presented. Officers undertook to provide a written response to confirm this detail. The Council was currently working with Mersey Forest to assess the failure rate of the tree planting and to re-plant so information on this and lessons learned could be shared once the assessment was complete.

RESOLVED (unanimously):

That the Environment and Communities Committee:

1.    Note the progress made towards the Council’s target to be carbon neutral for its own emissions by 2025.

2.    Note the contents of the borough wide baseline report 2045 (Appendix 1) and authorise the Head of Environmental Services to develop proposals with regional and local partners for priority action areas to begin to influence a reduction in borough wide carbon emissions towards the 2045 target.