Mayor Dave calls for the Council to become Carbon Neutral by 2030

On Monday evening, Mayor Dave Hodgson's new Climate Change Committee met. This follows the Mayor declaring a Climate Emergency earlier this year.

Mayor Dave set a target to achieve a 40% carbon reduction target when he was first elected in 2009. Since then the Council has reduced its carbon emissions on council buildings by 62% and delivered a number of energy efficiency projects across the Council's estate including installing solar panels on several Council sites.

The Council has changed from oil to gas and biomass at Borough Hall, delivered street lighting projects across Bedford, upgrading lamps to LED's and upgraded the lighting at carious buildings with smart LED with daylight and movement sensors. The Council continues to roll out electric vehicle charge points across the Borough and has switched their own fleet fuel to Gas to Liquid (GTL).

Dave said "We are not stopping there; we are committed to the Council becoming Carbon Neutral by 2030. At the Climate Change meeting we discussed the possibility of utilising land unsuitable for development for creating green spaces, solar farms and/or battery storage, for example at the former Elstow landfill site.

"Last year we planted a record number of trees and we will continue to work with developers, voluntary organisations and others to plant even more trees to offset carbon emissions and encourage schools to get involved with tree planting - there are schemes that will provide schools with up to 200 tree seedlings for free.

"We are also relaunching the Climate Change Fund to support communities and individuals to reduce their emissions - and also save money."