THURROCK Council will be going green to save taxpayers’ money, after councillors supported a Conservative motion to sign up to the “Climate Local” initiative.
The initiative is run by the Local Government Association, the umbrella organisation for councils in England. The LGA will now support Thurrock Council in drawing up a list of specific pledges, which will be tailored to the needs of Thurrock. The pledges can also include further development on green things the council is already doing, such as electric car charging points.
Conservative spokesman for the Environment Cllr Simon Wootton said “Being green makes sense for Thurrock. We all know that much of Thurrock is a flood plain and is, with heavy rainfall, susceptible to flooding. But green initiatives also represent a great way to ensure taxpayers’ money is saved in creative initiative as well as being spent wisely.
“By signing up for Climate Local, Thurrock Council can access support and advice on how to be greener – at the same time, we retain complete authority over what we prioritise, and we can make sure any steps we choose to take are right for Thurrock. The council already has several environmentally friendly initiatives, and this also a good way of bringing all the different ideas and activities together.
“Climate Local is right for Thurrock, and I am pleased that councillors across all parties unanimously supported my request for us to sign up.”
Perhaps Thurrock Council could start by looking at the energy performance certificate of the Civic Offices – could it be G – the lowest?
Let’s be clear about this, the ‘Climate Local Initiative’ is not about saving taxpayer’s money in the first instance. Indeed to trail it as such is to miss the point entirely.
Of course all councils are required to adopt policies that give good value to the taxpayer but the issues are much wider than that. As the Local Government Association themselves state one of the aims is to ‘drive and inspire councils to act on the causes and effects of climate change’.
This must include the re-evaluation of the use of incinerators to deal with waste or the use of biomass burning power stations to generate power, the former being polluting in their own right and the latter not being carbon neutral in real terms.
All across the political spectrum should be congratulated in this important first step but should be reminded that the watchword is ‘sustainability’ not ‘moneysaving’. Indeed to effectively deal with problems caused by ourselves may, in the shorter run, cost more and we should all be prepared to pay.