Council makes new pledge to take action against climate change

A motion was passed at last night's (July 25) full council meeting of the authority, which highlighted the 'scale and urgency of the global challenge from climate change' and the need to take action locally.

Councillor David Hennigan, portfolio holder for corporate communications, governance and cross portfolio support on the Ashfield Independents-run authority, put forward the motion.

He said: "We need to understand the scale and urgency of the global challenge we are facing.

"The council is proud of the measures we are taking at a local level so far, including planting trees, supporting blue and green infrastructure and working with community groups."

The vast majority of councillors voted in favour of the idea, which will see the council come up with new ways in which they can help to make a stand against global warming.

Councillor Jason Zadrozny, leader of the council, seconded the motion and said there is much more the council can do.

He said: "We are facing a globe-changing catastrophe if we don't act now.

"There is much more we can do, including removing single-use plastics from the building. We have also discussed creating a new scrutiny panel to make recommendations on how we can be as environmentally-friendly as we can.

"We have an ambitious target with regard to trees and plan to plant at least 1,000 more trees in the next four years, replacing every tree with two new ones.

"There is an enormous amount the council can do to affect change and actions speak louder than words."

The council has therefore resolved to do 'everything possible to combat climate change' and to commit to a 'robust climate change strategy', he said.

Conservative councillor for Hucknall West, Phil Rostance, added: "We need to be role models and champions for people to take notice of and start making a difference."

However, the proposals were felt to be 'weak' by Labour councillor Lauren Mitchell, who said: “The motion from the Ashfield Independents was non-committal and was lacking in vision. We need to be much more radical in the way we tackle climate change.”