Real Action on the Environment - Pursuing Zero Carbon Growth for Bedford Borough

On Sunday a Council consultation on a climate change planning policy came to a close. It was significant, in that the options included, for the first time, the proposal for zero carbon growth in Bedford Borough. The move towards such a policy is part of my drive to ensure we make a real difference on the environment, not just talk about it.

Since becoming Mayor, I have launched a series of environmental initiatives designed to make a real difference in the task of protecting the local and wider environment. All Councils talk about the importance of 'sustainability,' but some are just as guilty as many businesses and other organisations who pay lip service to the issue without taking action. I have been determined to ensure that Bedford Borough Council does things differently, and that is why we have taken measures such as the £450,000 cliimate change fund for community groups and charities to invest in renewable energy schemes, the pioneering hydropower plant on the Great Ouse currently in the planning stage and the 10:10 commitment which is seeing us slash our carbon emissions within a year.

The zero carbon growth proposal would involve all housing or commercial developments over a certain size being required to have a neutral impact in terms of its carbon emissions, using measures such as high quality insulation and on-site renewable energy generation. Where developments are not able to meet that requirement, the developer would be required to pay into a locally-administered carbon offset fund, which would be invested in local carbon-cutting projects. The amount they would be required to pay in would be worked out on a per tonne of net carbon emissions basis. We will all have to look carefully at the consultation responses and determine exactly how far the new policy can go in terms of achieving the balance between ensuring continued economic growth and investment and the very highest environmental standards, but I am adamant that unless we are bold and require sustainability to be built in from the start of new developments, we will be failing to take the real action on the environment to which I am totally committed.