Greener year ahead for Newark and Sherwood thanks to district council’s £1million promise

Of this £1 million, £685,250 has been allocated to install solar PV panels across five of its corporate and leisure buildings. An additional £40,000 will go towards surveying other Council owned sites to see how they too can benefit from measures to help reduce their carbon footprint.

An investment of £350,000 will be made to play parks across the district, modernising equipment and providing imaginative new play items for a variety of different users and a further £20,000 will be invested in the district council’s Days of Action programme.

And an additional £75,000 is being allocated to support vital climate change work which will be identified from the District Council’s De-Carbonisation Plan.

There will also be an additional £30,000 added to existing budgets to ensure that all the extra trees planted across the district are well cared for and maintained and a further £55,000 will go towards ensuring that housing developers work with licensed and experienced ecologists when planning to build new homes.

And finally, an additional £41,000 will be invested in how the district council can deliver carbon reductions in the wider district.

Coun David Lloyd, leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “It can be very difficult at times to quantify how committed we are to ensuring a greener district. But I don’t think it can be any clearer than our plan to invest over £1 million this year on greener initiatives.

"Let me be clear, this is additional spend above and beyond what is already planned on greener activities.

“We have come under criticism in the past from a small, yet vocal, few, but I am proud that this significant funding will not only demonstrate our commitment to becoming a greener district but further confirms that we are listening to what our residents want.

"Feedback from our resident survey tells us that protecting our environment and securing it for the future is one of your top priorities. We have listened and we are delivering that.”

All the initiatives funded are in addition to existing work and the kerbside glass service which will be implemented as well.