By Cllr Sarah Kerr
A lot has happened in the last four months since the Lib Dems took over running Wokingham Borough Council. A few updates from my portfolio (Climate Emergency and Resident Services) include:
- The Executive decision to develop a ‘Violence Against Women & Girls’ strategy and for the council to become White Ribbon accredited (which aims to end the culture of misogyny);
- Signing the lease with the Polehampton Charity so that Twyford gets its new library in the old Polehampton Boys School site. Not only does this mean that the library will move from its temporary site to a permanent building, but it also restores a heritage asset in the village which supports the development of civic pride;
- Progression of the website overhaul for the whole council as the current one is end of life and not fit for purpose;
- Signed the Heads of Terms agreement with our partner organisation Arts4Wokingham who are commissioning, paying for and installing a landmark public sculpture (called the Arc) outside the Carnival Hub. This partnership will assist in making Wokingham a destination place, boosting the local economy and supporting mental health and wellbeing;
We are progressing the customer excellence programme that seeks to put the customer (our public) at the forefront of everything that we do.
Like my last article, I want to focus in on one area – the climate emergency.
In July 2019, Wokingham Borough Councillors unanimously declared a climate emergency and set to develop an action plan that would bring about carbon neutrality for the council as an organisation and the geographic region of Wokingham Borough.
Unbelievably, we still live in a world of climate change deniers and sceptics, so to know that this crucial agenda has the full support of Wokingham borough council politicians is a fantastic base upon which to build.
I’d like to mention my predecessor, Cllr Gregor Murray, and recognise that taking on this agenda from a standing start was always going to be tough, especially with all the conflicting priorities we have to deal with as local politicians, and the lack of central government support.
I’ve been really impressed with our fantastic officer team who have a wealth of knowledge and expertise and have worked very hard on adjusting the climate emergency action plan (CEAP) before I proposed it to Full Council.
Taking on board comments from the council’s cross-party scrutiny process and, in line with best practice, the CEAP consists of SMART targets and provides a much clearer view of what the projected carbon savings would be through actions in the plan.
What the CEAP shows us is a significant gap and we need to address this gap. There are three ways in which we can do this: Do more as a local authority directly and within our sphere of influence; work in partnership to form a One Wokingham approach where collective responsibility is taken and actioned; and lobby government to remove the barriers that still exist.
We are putting together business cases for some new initiatives such as a home decarbonisation service, a wider home decarbonisation and energy plan, active travel plans and a reusable period product scheme (please note that this isn’t an exhaustive list).
Underpinning everything that we do is the emerging behaviour change strategy in order to help our communities transition to a more sustainable future. And sitting alongside our climate mitigation work is our approach to climate adaptation.
All of this is being considered alongside the financial implications that come with them.
We also are looking to work collaboratively with organisations who share our vision to becoming net zero. We cannot do this alone, and developing strong partnerships is crucial to our success. The council cannot ‘fix’ climate change without wider involvement. We all need to be part of the journey through a One Wokingham approach.
Finally, I implore our new Prime Minister to listen to local government and provide us with the statutory obligations we desperately need to tackle the climate crisis. Net zero is unachievable without local action.
Cllr Sarah Kerr is the executive member for climate emergency and resident services on Wokingham Borough Council and Lib Dem ward member for Evendons
