West Berks Council - West Berkshire Parish Climate Forum
Wednesday 19th May 2021 13:00-14:00
An invitation from West Berks Council to all parish and town councillors and officers:
As you may well know, West Berkshire Council is implementing a Local Climate Action Plan to help support local communities on their path to carbon neutrality.
In response to a request from a group of our local Parish and Town Councils, we have set up a West Berkshire Parish Climate Forum. This will be a forum to encourage and facilitate improved communications between local communities and West Berkshire Council, specifically to discuss environmental and climate action.
It will aim to:
- Provide information on current and future environmental projects
- Keep communities up to date on progress towards targets
- Enable communities to share experiences, learn from each other and raise views or requests that WBC may be able to help with
Essentially we want it to be a group that you find encouraging and where we can all explore this topic together in a helpful and supportive way.
The first meeting was held online via Zoom on Wednesday, 19th May. The plan is to alternate future meetings so one is held at lunchtime and the next is held in the evening so that those interested can hopefully make at least some of the sessions.
We would encourage a representative(s) from every Parish and Town Council to join us for these meetings if you can. Everyone is welcome whether you have already engaged with us on this topic or not. Please do respond to let me know who will be attending. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.
Megan (West Berks Council)
Recent WBGE Events
A members forum* was held on 5th May 2021 and we were delighted to have Megan Dalgarno and Helen Ramsey from West Berks Council to present the council's local climate action plan to us. Their presentation is here and a recording of the event is here. One member even joined us from his hospital bed!
The Local Climate Action Plan includes a framework for community action: The Greening Campaign; Eco-Schools and engagment with local businesses via the Berkshire Business Growth Hub.
The discussion that followed covered electric vehicle charging point provision, the imperative of a national programme to insulate homes, disinvestment from fossil fuel companies in such investments as pension funds (in particular the Berkshire Pension Fund used by West Berks Council), carbon audits, the importance of engaging children, the need for land to plant trees, the need for carbon targets and performance indicators for WBC's zero-carbon proramme, and a healthy dose of cynicism about govenment commitment given the recent scrapping of the Green Homes Grant and the earlier Green Deal scheme.
Once again we are extremely grateful to Megan and Helen for joining us and presenting to us, and for their time and expertise in dealing with the many questions that arose.
* Members' forums are open events for anyone to join. Please join us here to receive our mailings including links for future meetings.
The Local Climate Action Plan includes a framework for community action: The Greening Campaign; Eco-Schools and engagment with local businesses via the Berkshire Business Growth Hub.
The discussion that followed covered electric vehicle charging point provision, the imperative of a national programme to insulate homes, disinvestment from fossil fuel companies in such investments as pension funds (in particular the Berkshire Pension Fund used by West Berks Council), carbon audits, the importance of engaging children, the need for land to plant trees, the need for carbon targets and performance indicators for WBC's zero-carbon proramme, and a healthy dose of cynicism about govenment commitment given the recent scrapping of the Green Homes Grant and the earlier Green Deal scheme.
Once again we are extremely grateful to Megan and Helen for joining us and presenting to us, and for their time and expertise in dealing with the many questions that arose.
* Members' forums are open events for anyone to join. Please join us here to receive our mailings including links for future meetings.