Town Council to Declare Climate Emergency and Draft New Action Plan

Hailsham Town Council recognises the scale and importance of climate change and, at its meeting held last Wednesday [22 May], agreed to declare a ‘Climate Emergency’.

Members voted in favour of the motion put forward to Council to make the declaration, which highlights the Town Council’s commitment to taking effective actions to mitigate the effects of climate change, safeguard the environment, reduce the town’s carbon footprint and promote sustainability within the parish.

At the meeting, members were informed of the increase in the number of local councils across the country taking action to combat climate change, and that Hailsham Town Council should be no different. Councillors agreed that swift action is needed to tackle the issue of climate change, where ambition and leadership from the Council will be key to working with the community (including local industry) to achieve the aim of reaching carbon neutrality.

The Town Council agreed that climate change and sustainability are amongst the biggest issues at present and recognises the critical role that councils have to play in delivering a zero carbon future. From this, the Town Council will declare a Climate Emergency’ and establish a working group to consult with the community to collectively work towards making Hailsham carbon-neutral by 2030, delivering impact on both production and consumption emissions.

An action plan will be drawn up to tackle climate change in Hailsham, including:

• Reviewing the sustainability of the Town  Council’s land and assets and planning for the future of asset development
• Reviewing community engagement to ensure that climate change is central to all local groups
• Introducing a clear pillar of action on environment in the Town Council’s strategy to be fed into and updated regularly
• Identifying opportunities to work with other councils and local authorities to work towards carbon neutrality

The salient points included in the action plan will be fed into the Wealden Local Plan to ensure that future development minimises energy use, provides at least 20% of the development’s ongoing and future energy demand from on-site renewable energy sources, and ensures all energy supplied to Town Council buildings is sourced via a District Energy Network or 100% renewable energy providers, with the exception of buildings where energy is generated onsite.

“We recognise that climate change poses a considerable threat to our environment and, by declaring a climate emergency, we can take necessary steps to reduce our carbon footprint in the town,” said Town Clerk, John Harrison. “Hailsham has been behind local councils in responding to climate change and this is our opportunity to change this.”

“Having said that, we must all work together as a community to make this happen and make a substantial impact. By working together, we can establish and move forward innovative solutions to help tackle both the causes and the impact of climate change.”