WNC Climate Change Strategy Consultation
West Northamptonshire Council is currently consulting on its draft Climate Change Strategy - the consultation ends on 19 January 2025. CA-WN previously responded to an earlier consultation on the Strategy. Ours was one of just 101 responses, so every response really does make a difference!
CA-WN was also invited to take part in a peer review of the draft Strategy prior to the current consultation, and we're pleased to note that a number of our comments were taken on board.
You can read the response we have submitted below - feel free to copy and paste as much of this as you like. Please do take the time to complete the consultation if you can. The draft Strategy is 39 pages long (including contents and references) and is fairly readable. If you don't have time to read the Strategy there is a 3-page summary on offer. The council needs to know that the residents it serves want meaningful action on climate change.
CA-WN Climate Change Strategy Consultation Response
Page 2 The Vision
No comments.
Page 3 The Aims
We selected ‘Agree’ for all the multiple choice options, and made these comments:
Energy
“Where new buildings are needed support high energy efficiency standards”.
This is a really important aim and the wording is weak. We appreciate local authorities work under constraints of national planning policy, however this could be strengthened, for example by replacing ‘support’ with ‘strongly support and promote’.
Transport
• Support the development of active travel infrastructure across West Northamptonshire
• Support the provision of accessible public transport across West Northamptonshire
• Support delivery of the Local Transport and Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans
These three aims are within the responsibility of WNC to deliver, whereas ‘support’ implies they will be delivered primarily by someone else and doesn’t indicate strong commitment. Suggest changing the wording to:
• Secure funding for and deliver high quality accessible active travel infrastructure across West Northamptonshire
• Secure funding for and deliver accessible public transport across West Northamptonshire
• Secure funding for and deliver the Local Transport and Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans
Waste
We would like to see the wording amended to refer explicitly to reuse as well as recycling, as reuse is the better, more resource-efficient option. We appreciate this is implicit within the circular economy aim but would like to see this added to the other points e.g.:
“reduce residual waste and promote recycling AND REUSE among their customers”
“Encourage everyone to reduce waste and maximise recycling AND REUSE”
Reasons:
We broadly agree with the aims but feel in some cases the wording could be better.
Page 4 Further comments
Our response:
Pg 14 People (1st para)
“The increasing frequency, and also irregularity, of extreme weather events, such as flooding and heatwaves, poses significant challenges to our community.”
We request an amendment to the wording to recognise that severity of events is increasing as well as frequency.
‘Increasing irregularity’ doesn’t quite make sense, unsure what it is meant to convey – perhaps that extreme events do not conform to established patterns? Please clarify.
Pg 21 Locally Delivered Renewable Energy
We would like to see a reference to supporting community-owned/managed energy generation projects. Enabling community ownership and direct benefit from renewable energy generation is one way to help overcome objections.
Pg 27 Waste (1st para)
“ensuring any remaining waste is correctly disposed of, including maximising the opportunity for recycling.” Reuse is a better option where possible. Suggest amending wording to “maximising the opportunity for recycling AND REUSE”.
Pg 31 Nature
“Nonetheless, Northamptonshire is currently dominated by arable land and improved grassland, collectively making up >70% of the county”
It’s unclear what the purpose of this statement is. It might be helpful to clarify, for example by adding “there is an opportunity to work with farmers and landowners to increase ecosystem services from farmland”.
Pg 31 Nature - Challenges (1st para)
Suggest when talking about land use priorities there should be a reference to food production, as this is what 70% of the land area is currently used for and food security is nationally important.
Pg 35 Governance - Cross-party Sustainability Working Group
We request that this committee is made a formal WNC sub committee. This would enable local residents to see published papers and minutes and be an important move to demonstrate the council’s commitment to addressing climate change.