District Dispatch

From 1 July until 30 September we will be asking for your views on climate change projects, focusing on potential projects that could help individuals and communities in the district reduce their emissions. This information will be used to help inform our new climate emergency action plan.

We’re also holding in-person drop-in events and online sessions to help people find out more about the consultation. The events will provide the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the proposals with our staff.

The events will begin with an online session on Monday 1 July between 7pm-8.30pm. The first in-person event will take place at Leconfield Hall in Petworth on Wednesday 3 July where you can drop in from 3-7pm. Refreshments and a children’s colouring competition activity will be provided, and you can enter a draw to be in with a chance of winning a sustainable living prize worth up to £500 when you fill in our survey. More information, including links to the online meetings and details about the prize draw, can be found at:https://letstalk.chichester.gov.uk/climatechange

As a council, it’s vital that we play our part in helping to fight climate change. The council’s emissions are only around 0.5% of emissions in the whole district, but since we declared a Climate Emergency in 2019, we have been working extremely hard to cut our own emissions, for example in our buildings and in our vehicle fleet. We have a clear idea of what we need to do, so this consultation focuses on helping individuals and organisations in the district to cut their carbon emissions.

This is an important opportunity for residents and businesses across the Chichester District to help shape the plan and for us all to come together to help tackle a crisis that affects everyone. The ideas that could potentially be included in the new action plan have been put together after working with teams across the whole council, and now it’s over to you to see what you think. Some carbon reductions can only be successfully accomplished at a national or international level, so the emphasis is on the areas where we believe we have the most influence and can make the biggest difference.

So far, we’ve helped some people to make their homes more energy efficient and generate their own energy through renewable energy measures.We’ve worked with a range of businesses to help them become more sustainable and we’re also part of a project that’s led to over 50,000 trees being planted in the district. In addition, we’ve installed electric vehicle charge-points in our car parks, and we successfully bid for £1.3 million to help reduce carbon emissions at our Westgate Leisure Centre. Many projects are still in progress, including work to reduce emissions from homes in the district. We’re now looking ahead to see what else we can do to cut carbon emissions.

Although we are asking people to help shape the plan, I would like to stress that many of the projects will depend on council resources and external funding, so at this stage, we can’t guarantee that they will go ahead, even with public support. However, it’s important that residents know about the potential projects and can feed into the strategy.

The survey will be available from 1 July 2024 at: https://letstalk.chichester.gov.uk/climatechange/participate with videos that help to explain each project. For those who do not have access to a computer, a paper version will be included as part of the council’s residents’ magazine, ‘initiatives’, which people can fill out when it is delivered from 8 July.

Once the results have been examined and the final plan written up, it will be discussed by Cabinet and Full Council for approval in summer 2025, when the current plan ends. The new plan will run until 2030.

Best Wishes

Diane Shepherd

Chief Executive at Chichester District Council