1,500 people respond to plans on how Dorset will tackle the Climate Emergency
Reintroducing beaver colonies is one of the ideas to help with flood prevention
Planting trees, better infrastructure for electric vehicles and reintroducing beaver colonies to help with flood prevention.
They are all ideas which form Dorset Council's Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy.
1,500 people responded to a consultation and the results of which will be looked at today by Dorset Council's Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee. (25 March)
The current strategy is recommended for approval by Cabinet and Full Council, as the consultation clearly indicated widespread approval of the Council's approach.
Officers have analysed the responses from over 1,500 respondents. This has resulted in a few changes to the strategy where the Council is able to take direct action.
The aim is become a carbon neutral Council by 2040. By working in partnership with the communities and organisations in Dorset we can achieve a carbon neutral Dorset County by 2050.
Changes to the strategy as a result of the consultation
There were over 12,000 comments received that highlighted several key concerns within the strategy.
The report outlines proposed changes to the strategy as a result, as well as recurring themes and areas of interest, including adding actions such as:
Continue to lobby central government over changes to national policy to encourage and enforce carbon-neutral planning and development
Council-owned tree management policy will include replacing every felled tree with two new ones, and create tree planting programmes to prevent flood risks and water pollution
Implementing Electric Vehicle and Hydrogen infrastructure everywhere possible, both rural and urban
To investigate the reintroduction of beaver colonies to facilitate flood prevention and to improve water quality and enhance biodiversity
Working with internal and external partners to identify opportunities for Large Scale Rewilding
Develop plan to encourage adoption of more climate and ecological friendly practices and greater protection of soils and share best practice with the wider farming community
Lobby central government over the amount of plastic packaging and lack of action by retailers and supermarkets.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment said:
"A lot of hard work has gone into the development of the strategy, which has been informed by officers, councillors, communities and the public. Therefore it comes as no surprise that the majority of the respondents support what we we're proposing to do to tackle climate and ecological change in Dorset. The few changes we have made add further improvements and I'm pleased with the results.
"We appreciate that many people want the council to act faster on achieving carbon neutrality. However, given the resources and existing technology available to us, we believe the current targets remain both ambitious and achievable, including a 70% reduction in our carbon footprint by 2030. We will continue to aim for earlier targets if possible, especially if central government amend their own target dates and make changes to legislation accordingly.
"Other commenters asked us to introduce stricter environmental regulation on things like car use, development and building control, much of which is currently outside the Council's direct authority. We intend to use these suggestions as we commit to continue to lobby central government for extensive changes in national policy. This will give us the powers we need to ensure developers commit to zero carbon property building in our county.
"Other suggestions included more regular reporting of our progress and closer scrutiny of our ongoing climate work, which have been fully taken on board and we will change our approach accordingly. The strategy is a living document - a continual work in progress - and will be amended in the future as further scientific evidence becomes available, new technologies emerge and additional grant funding comes our way.
"I want to take this opportunity to thank residents, businesses and groups for their time in giving us their open and honest feedback. But this is just the beginning of our efforts - the real hard work starts now as we begin to take decisive and bold actions to change the way we do things in Dorset to address the climate and ecological emergency."