Climate Emergency Plan
Climate change is not only a key issue globally, but is becoming one of the most talked-about issues amongst our electorate. Following feedback from our electorate through our community engagement strategy, inspired by the actions of Welsh Government and a desire to bring change, Pennard Community Council declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency in June 2019.
In order to try to tackle this on a local level, meeting the demands of local people, fitting in with national priorities and conscious that there will be those within our community who have not embraced Climate Change as an issue, we went out to the residents to set up a group inviting people from all sections of the community.
We had 20 people attend our initial meeting and these, along with those who were interested but could not attend, formed the steering group to produce our first Climate Emergency Plan.
Out of the initial meeting, the group decided to split into smaller groups to consider the community impact from different perspectives and to make sure all influencing factors were included in the plan. They formed groups to look at: Transport, Food and Growing, Housing, Biodiversity, Energy and Youth.
These groups met regularly to discuss the current situation and issues facing the community and to consider ways forward to mitigate the issues and reduce the negative impact on our community and the planet. As word spread that the Council had declared an emergency, more residents got in touch and joined groups depending on their area of interest. The groups regularly reported back to the steering group and the plan was finalised and approved by Council within the six month deadline.
Included with the plan is an e-Pledge Card for residents who wish to participate. (Paper copies will be made available for those who aren’t online.) They allow a space for stating what measures they already take for the sake of the planet and pledge to make new changes for
the coming year. This will be a rolling project with new pledge cards every year.
The enthusiasm within the community is palpable, there is desire to change how we live and build resilience and sustainability into our small area of the planet. As part of our declaration, we included a request to other local Town and Community Councils, local and national organisations and the Local Authority to join us in our declaration. We have received some interest in this and our Chair has been asked to give a presentation to Mumbles Community Council.
Having discovered the difficulties of producing an action plan, we sent a motion to the One Voice Wales AGM to develop a Toolkit for Town and Community Councils who wish to declare a Climate Emergency. This was voted for unanimously by members at the AGM last year.
Our steering group will meet regularly over the course of 2020/21 to ensure the targets set within the plan are met and identify any potential issues in good time. In addition to this, work will also begin on the plan for the next year and beyond, constantly moving Pennard toward a carbon neutral future.