Chesham Town Council Make Huge Strides In Addressing Climate Change And Delivering Carbon Neutrality By 2030!
At the October meeting of the Community, Assets, Recreation & Environment (CARE) Committee of Chesham Town Council (CTC) the latest Eco Audit update was published, highlighting how the Council are on track to meet their environmental aspirations. Key findings of the update are…
- A 50% reduction in energy consumption at the Town Hall & Depot buildings.
- Major reconfiguration of heating zones, installation of digital timers and control zones, heat reflection techniques and infra-red heating solutions to eradicate waste and improve efficiency.
- ¾ Million sheets of paper no longer used delivering a 60% reduction in paper consumption and a 100% conversion of remaining paper usage to recycled paper.
- A reduction in trees consumed for photocopying and printing from 149 trees per year to 0 coupled with over 200 Communi-Trees planted across Chesham’s residential roads!
- A dramatic drop from 14.7 Million to just 9.4 Million litres of mains water consumption.
- The eradication of the burning of green waste and the purchase of a bio-chipper to increase and speed up composting.
CTC CARE Committee Chair, Cllr Jane MacBean is delighted with the progress being made…
“When we embarked upon this journey, we knew that it would need real effort, resources and commitment from everyone in order to deliver on an ambitious programme of change. Staff and Councillors have made the Eco Audit an integral part of every discussion and decision, and I think that the emphasis we have placed on climate change and the environment is highlighted by the progress made to date.”
On the 9th of September 2019, CTC declared a Climate Emergency with an aspiration to be carbon neutral by 2030. Following their declaration, CTC commissioned an Eco-Audit across its full scope of operations at The Elgiva Theatre, The Moor Gym & Swim, Chesham Town Hall, and work carried out by its Parks & Premises team. In 2020 a report was prepared by 3 Acorns, which provided baseline data of CTC’s carbon footprint and proposed an action list to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce the negative ecological impacts of CTC’s activities. Officers created an action plan stemming from the recommendations within the audit and this October’s update highlights CTC’s determination, CTC CEO Tony Marmo reaffirmed member and officer commitment…
“We welcome the validation that this Eco-Audit offers on our progress to date. It is important to remember that this has been achieved against a backdrop of a worldwide pandemic and uncertainty around external factors such as energy pricing that remain out of our control, but residents can be certain that we will be revising our action plan and looking at the next key areas of focus needed to ensure we continue to deliver.”
For further information please contact Chesham Town Council:
Tel: 01494 774842, Email: enquiries@chesham.gov.uk, @CheshamCouncil, www.chesham.gov.uk, www.facebook.com/CheshamTownCouncil