AT THE recent executive meeting, it was announced that Wokingham Borough Council is considering forming Citizens Assemblies to advise the council.
This was according to Cllr Gregor Murray, previously the executive member for climate emergency and now the executive member for resident services, communications and emissions.
He was responding to a question from Wokingham Town Council councillor Phil Cunnington, who said: “The Climate Emergency Task and Finish Group calls on the council to include progress of measures aimed at reducing consumption emissions coming into the borough.
“Other than asking residents to buy less, what can be done to reduce emissions that seem to me to sit outside of the council’s control?”
Cllr Murray said he hoped residents would make “informed purchasing decisions” and look at the ways their household generates carbon emissions.
He said: “The role of the council should be to focus on educating communities and businesses about the impacts of consumption emissions and encourage by making buying decisions that will reduce them.
“Therefore, the council wants to bring together residents, in the form of a number of Citizens Assemblies, to investigate, discuss and make recommendations to Wokingham Borough Council on how to respond to consumption emissions and other areas of our climate emergency and in particular to what needs to be done to change our current behaviours.
“We believe that this will significantly strengthen our Climate Emergency Action plan and our efforts to promote behavioural change that promote new lifestyle choices.”
Cllr Cunningham questioned how the groups could be kept free from political bias, and Cllr Murray said he hoped the members would be anonymous, so not to use their role for career advancement.
He said members would be chosen to create a “demographically balanced group” that would also include a vast number of our schoolchildren.
