Local authorities across the country are working hard to cut their carbon emissions, a trend which has attracted the attention of Conservative leader, David Cameron. Paul Marinko reports He wore a green – ‘turquoise actually’ – tie, and came armed with a speech set to push councils on to the frontline of tackling the very global issue of climate change. Conservative leader David Cameron’s speech to the Local Government Association (LGA) conference in Bournemouth earlier this month took councils at their word, and accepted they really did want more freedom to shape the future. While eco-warrior Zac Goldsmith battles to come up with an energy strategy for the party, which limits nuclear as much as possible, the Tory leader is pushing for councils to come up with initiatives to tackle climate change at the local level. Local government, he told the conference, ‘has a huge part to play in meeting our national – indeed our international – ambitions’. ‘Local councils have a vital part to play in delivering a low carbon future. ‘Decentralised energy – electricity generated in smaller, more local units such as neighbourhood combined heat and power schemes – could make a huge contribution to reducing carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency.’ Mr Cameron highlighted two projects he had encountered where councils were pioneering new environmentally-friendly energy solutions. Barnsley MBC, he said, had ‘pioneered the most extensive application of biomass heating in the UK, using waste wood to heat community housing and other public buildings’. He pointed out how the council had replaced old coal-fired boilers with a new one, using wood chip, so tree waste could be put to good use. The initiative, said the Tory leader, had seen the council save almost 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year. Concerns about the future supply of fossil fuels and the need to cut carbon emissions led Barnsley to adopt a ‘biomass implementation policy’ two years ago, committing it to using natural renewable fuels instead of more common forms of heat energy in all its new and refurbished buildings. The policy is the brainchild of Dick Bradford, Barnsley’s principal designer for building services, who says it has been easy getting the job done. ‘I have had no difficulty getting members to agree they need to go down this route,’ he says. One reason could be the cost. ‘It hasn’t cost Barnsley a bean,’ says Mr Bradford. ‘It’s all been grant-funded.’ The added benefit is the policy has reduced residents’ fuel costs by as much as 70%, and the council is likely to meet government targets for reducing carbon dioxide emission by 60% by 2050, 40 years ahead of time. ‘We are starting to produce our own fuel from parks and gardens and forests,’ says Mr Bradford. ‘So we are close to closing the supply route.’ But Sarah Coe, climate change policy officer at the LGA, says there are still problems for councils trying to embrace green energy. First, there is still no central pot of funding, and councils face a mini minefield trying to get to the cash. To help tackle this, the association launched an online pack earlier this week to help authorities track down funds. Second, the Government has plumped for one-off funding instead of continuous cash. Says Ms Coe: ‘While one-off funding is welcome, what councils really need is stability of funding.’ One hundred and forty councils in England and Wales have already signed up to the Nottingham Declaration – stating a commitment to climate change and a pledge to take green initiatives forward – and the LGA is aiming for 200 to have signed it by the end of the year. But the good intentions of councils need to be matched with more help at the national level, says Ms Coe. There is a financial disincentive to councils generating their own energy. The price they sell to the National Grid is far less than the price they buy at, she says. On top of that, councils also lose out when transporting their self-created energy because they still have to use the existing wire networks and are forced to pay transmission charges. The other example held up by Mr Cameron, Woking BC, has tackled some of these issues head on. The council, which has drastically reduced carbon emissions through its combined heat and power initiative, using solar and geothermal power and hydrogen fuel cells, dealt with the problem of transmission costs by putting down its own wire network. And the council has overcome the price differential when buying and selling by setting up its own company. Woking’s chief executive, Ray Morgan, said: ‘We wouldn’t have been doing this if we weren’t selling directly to the consumer.’ The borough’s good work means the council is now exporting its initiatives, with commercial deals possibly emerging in Milton Keynes and Middlesbrough. The council aims to get an eight to 12% return from the company, and it pumps the profit back into local initiatives, such as wind turbine and photovoltaic-powered streetlighting, independent of the National Grid. The Government’s energy review last week appears to envisage a very different role for local government. Ministers want to speed the planning process for new nuclear power stations by restricting them to considering local issues. Tackling questions such as their need nationally will have to be addressed in advance. Trade and industry secretary, Alistair Darling, says: ‘Local concerns about specific sites must be taken into consideration, but the right balance has to be struck with the national need for our vital energy infrastructure.’ Local government has reacted badly to the news, highlighting the good work it is doing to tackle climate change. ‘Public consultation is an important part of the local planning system,’ says the chair of the LGA’s environment board, Cllr David Sparks. ‘Councils are doing a great deal to achieve this, not only in their own buildings, but also by working with local people. ‘For example, Middlesbrough has a five-year climate change community action plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 12.5% by 2010. ‘Authorities are also promoting renewable energy sources, including wind turbines and solar panels, through the local planning system. Planning policies which require environmental sustainability to be incorporated in the design and construction of all new developments have been put in place by many councils.’ n
