Our immediate and longer term plans to tackle climate change locally

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Our immediate and longer term plans to tackle climate change locally

News Release PR8341 - published on 16 March 2021

Plans to work towards making us and Torbay carbon neutral by 2030 are expected to be agreed next week.

More tree planting, better walking and cycling routes, solar power and electric charging points are just some of the measures included in the Carbon Neutral ten point action plan to be delivered this year.

Residents can also reduce their carbon emissions and save money on their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient with measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation. Help is at hand through expert advice offered by local partners Exeter Community Energy. This service is helping Torbay to tackle fuel poverty.

We also aim to work towards reducing its own emissions by 2030 and will develop a Carbon Neutral Council programme and action plan.

We declared a climate emergency in 2019 and is signed up to the Devon Climate Emergency and has already been undertaking a range of actions to address climate change and reduce its carbon footprint. It also forms a key part of our Community and Corporate Plan.

The action plan includes:

Exploring the possibility of two new solar farms at Brokenbury and The Willows
A new Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan
New sea walls along Paignton and Preston seafronts
Plans to plant more than 350 trees and launch a community Tree Warden scheme
A safer, more direct and attractive walking and cycling connection between Goodrington and Broadsands
Over the next three years we aim to increase recycling rates from the current 40% to 50%
Offering the Eco Flexible Eligibility Scheme and working with Exeter Community Energy we will deliver energy saving advice to homes in fuel poverty
New solar panels to reduce Torbay Leisure Centre’s carbon emissions
Electric vehicle charging points at selected car parks in Torbay
Targeted, practical energy efficiency advice to residents in the Melville Street Project area

Councillor Mike Morey, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Environment and Culture for Torbay Council, said: “We are committed to tackling climate change and reducing our carbon footprint and these immediate and long term actions and plans demonstrate that we are extremely serious about this issue.

“We will support residents to make their homes more energy efficient, make it easier for people to walk and cycle and increase recycling and tree planting.

“As well as being good for the environment, all these actions have a range of other benefits, for example, choosing to use your car less and commuting by walking or cycling once a week could save around 346kg of CO₂ every year and walking regularly reduces your risk of heart disease by 35% – but there are also financial benefits – reducing your car use by a quarter could save up to £379 in fuel costs per year. This is why we are improving our walking and cycling network across the Bay to help you choose to walk and cycle more.

“The initial one year action plan outlines some of the Council’s immediate plans and plans to work with the community to co-develop a new carbon neutral Torbay action plan. This will focus on priority actions beyond 2021 and look towards achieving our 2030 target.”

The carbon neutral approach for 2021 and the Initial Action Plan will be considered by cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 23 March 2021.

Action plan

The Carbon Neutral Torbay Action Plan is as follows:

Solar farms

Action

We will continue to explore the development of two solar farms at Brokenbury and near the Willows in Torquay.

Benefit

Solar farms reduce carbon emissions and generate clean energy from the sun’s power. This means that we do not need to generate this energy from fossil fuels like gas, which, when burnt to create electricity, emit harmful carbon emissions that contribute to the climate emergency.

With the two proposed new solar farms we could produce 5-megawatts of clean energy in the Bay.

Cycling and walking infrastructure

Action

A new Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) has been consulted on and will be updated to reflect the feedback received before being presented to Cabinet in April. It will guide future investment with £120,000 of walking and cycling projects prioritised in 2021/22.

Benefit

Choosing to commute by walking or cycling once a week could save around 346kg of CO₂ a year – every mile you travel without your petrol or diesel car saves enough CO₂ to fill 10 balloons.

Walking regularly reduces your risk of heart disease by 35%.

Sea defences

Action

As our climate is changing, sea levels are rising and more storms are hitting Torbay. With the Environment Agency we will act to rapidly reduce properties at risk from flooding. This will include consulting on the design of new sea walls along Paignton and Preston sea fronts, with construction to start towards the end of the summer months in 2021.

Benefit

It has been predicted that due to climate change we will see the sea level rise in Torbay by over one metre. In the next 100 years, the frequency and impact of water coming over the top of the sea walls will increase, resulting in more infrastructure and properties being affected by flooding.

By acting now we can rapidly reduce this risk to properties.

Find out more about the new sea defence scheme for Paignton and Preston.

Tree planting

Action

We will deliver effective tree planting schemes as part of a new three year funded i-tree 2 initiative. We will plant over 350 of the right trees in the right place. It will include community participation and the launch of a supportive Tree Warden scheme. This programme is all about planting trees for our children's children.

Benefit

The benefits of tree planting include:

Absorbing and storing carbon emissions helping us to tackle the climate emergency
Improving air quality
helping keep our homes cool
provide timber, wood and fibre products
offer opportunities for people to reconnect with nature
provide spaces to improve health and wellbeing
help to reduce flood risk
reduce the costs of water treatment

Walking and cycling routes

Action

We have committed to improve the walking and cycling routes around the bay area, eventually connecting Torquay to Brixham with a coastal route. In 2021 we will provide a safer, more direct and attractive walking and cycling connection between Goodrington and Broadsands.

Benefit

Small steps make a difference - choosing to walk or wheel just one mile to the shop and back once a week rather than drive will see fuel savings of £16 and 27kg in CO₂ annually. This is the equivalent of charging your smartphone 3,443 times.

Reducing, reusing and recycling

Action

Reducing, reusing and recycling the waste we create will help us all to play a part in tackling climate change. Through our new recycling support co-ordinators, we will help residents to recycle more of their waste, focussing initially on their food waste. New leaflets will also be sent out to all households clarifying what materials can be recycled. We will also introduce a new charged-for garden waste collection service.

Benefit

Around 20% of the contents of people’s non-recyclable waste bins in Torbay is food waste – which could have gone in their food waste bin and saved space in their wheeled bins – as well as being used to make compost to generate electricity at a local facility in Devon. Over the next three years, we aim to increase recycling rates from the current 40% to 50%.

Energy saving

Action

We will continue to offer the Eco Flexible Eligibility Scheme and working with Exeter Community Energy we will deliver energy saving advice to homes in fuel poverty. We will also establish an advice portal to help residents across Torbay to make energy efficient changes to their homes.

Benefit

Helping people to install energy saving measures like insulation can help them to save money on their fuel bills, use less energy and therefore reduce their own carbon footprint and help them to live in warmer, healthier homes.

Carbon emissions

Action

We have secured £1.8 million of funding from the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to reduce Torbay Leisure Centre’s carbon emissions. We will install a range of energy and carbon saving measures including air source heat pumps to create low carbon heating and hot water and solar panels to generate clean electricity.

Benefit

Improve energy efficiency, and reduce the centre’s carbon emissions by 60%.

Electric vehicle charging points

Action

We will work with South West partners to bring electric vehicle charging points to selected car parks in Torbay.

Benefit

The government has pledged from 2030 to ban the purchase of new petrol and diesel cars. To help get us ready for electric vehicles we need to build a network of effective electric vehicle charging points. So we all have the confidence that we can get about and charge up our cars if we need to. Electric cars are also cheaper to maintain, better for the environment and quieter.