The Area Board will receive the following presentations followed by a brief opportunity for questions and comments:
· Arianne Crampton (Head of Climate Change, Wiltshire Council) will set out how the Council is currently responding to Climate Change, including support available to individuals who wish to take action.
· Tony Langham of Salisbury City Residents Against Packaging (SCRAP) will talk about work currently being done to minimise waste caused by excess packaging and use of plastic bags.
· Margaret Wilmot will present a summary of the discussion on Climate Change at the recent meeting of “Our Salisbury” (Salisbury City Community Area Partnership – SCCAP)
Minutes:
The Chairman introduced Ariane Crampton (Head of Climate Change) and Vincent Albano (Climate Change Project Officer) who were in attendance to give a presentation on what Wiltshire Council was doing to combat climate change, and what action residents could take themselves.
The Climate Change Act 2008 committed the UK to a 34% cut in carbon emissions by 2020 and an 80% cut by 2050. In addition, the Renewable Energy Strategy sought to achieve 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
To help achieve these goals, the Council had established a Climate Change Board involving various partner agencies, with the following objectives:
· To reduce the Council’s Carbon Footprint
· To reduce the county of Wiltshire’s carbon footprint
· To ensure that Wiltshire was prepared for the consequences of unavoidable climate change
· To prepare the Council for the implementation of the statutory Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC).
The Council was seeking to lead by example and had invested £261,000 in low-carbon technology in Salisbury, including pool covers, voltage reduction and upgraded boilers at the Five Rivers Leisure Centre, and energy efficient lighting at Salisbury City Hall.
Vincent set out some of the possible options for residents to make their properties more energy efficient. This included energy efficiency measures such as:
· Loft insulation
· Boiler jacket and pipe insulation
· Wall insulation
· Energy efficient products.
Residents could also install renewable energy and renewable heat generation, such as solar panels, ground/air source heat pumps, and wind turbines.
Another project being supported by the Council was CAVE (Chippenham and Villages Environmentalists). This initiative had used funding from the local Area Board to purchase a thermal imaging camera which was used to identify properties with poor insulation. This information was then made available to residents, along with a drop in evening at a local community building, where information was made available about the Energy Saving Trust and grants available from Wiltshire Council’s Private Sector Housing Team.
The Chairman thanked Ariane and Vincent for their presentation, and invited Tony Langham of SCRAP (Salisbury City Residents Against Plastic) to speak about the work of the group.
Tony explained that he had originally raised concern through the Area Board issues system in relation to the proliferation of plastic bags. SCRAP was now aware of and supporting a number of initiatives:
· A number of schools in the county were undertaking experiments on how quickly plastic bags would biodegrade.
· A Plastic Bag Free Day had been held on 12 September 2009, with over 220 groups participating across the country. In Salisbury, SCRAP had set up a stall in the Old George Mall and had handed out reusable cotton bags.
· Further to correspondence between SCRAP and the management of Holland & Barrett and Julian Graves health food chain, all shops within that company were now plastic bag free.
· Another SCRAP success was the increased cardboard recycling from Salisbury’s twice-weekly markets. This was as a direct result of representations made to Wiltshire Council’s waste department.
· A meeting had been held with Salisbury City Council and with Salisbury City Centre Management. All present had supported SCRAP’s aim to make Salisbury a plastic bag free city. Further to this, a questionnaire was being produced to seek public endorsement to the aim.
The Chairman thanked Tony and congratulated SCRAP on all the good work being done.
The Chairman then invited Margaret Willmot of Salisbury City Community Area Partnership (SCCAP) to give a summary of the discussion on Climate Change at the meeting of SCCAP on 21 June.
Margaret reported that various issues had been covered including the following:
· Energy saving and energy efficiency measures.
· Transport was responsible for nearly a quarter of all carbon emissions.
· Cycling would help reduce emissions from transport, and also help address health issues. To help achieve this, improved cycle routes were being developed through the city.
· Car share clubs were available to help people save money and reduce carbon emissions.
· Rail Services between main centres of population needed to be improved, to reduce long-distance car travel.
Margaret concluded by quoting from a WWF report which demonstrated that Salisbury used 2.79 planets’ worth of resources, compared with 3.62 planets used in Winchester. She commented that, despite Salisbury appearing to compare favourably, this was no reason for complacency as there was still a considerable challenge ahead to move to a “one planet” lifestyle.
The Chairman thanked Margaret for her presentation.