Mayor calls for re-writing of Shropshire Local Plan
Oswestry's mayor is urging Shropshire Council to re-write its Local Plan to the reflect the severity of the climate emergency.
Councillor Duncan Kerr said there were "appallingly few policies" in the plan to drive down carbon emission despite a pledge from the unitary authority to do so.
He wants to see energy efficiency in new buildings, an increase in renewable energy, more active travel such as cycling and the planting of more trees.
He said: “Shropshire Council's Draft Local Plan contains a specific policy which states that development in Shropshire will support the transition to a zero-carbon economy in accordance with the policies of the Local Plan.
"The document states that the Climate Change Act of 2008 required an 80 per cent reduction in emission by 2050 but completely ignores the 2019 Target Amendment order which increased this to 100 per cent."
Councillor Kerr, a member of the Green Party, said that the UK was not on course to meet either of those targets.
"The Committee on Climate Change has said that getting to net zero so meeting the 100 per cent target is technically feasible but highly challenging," he said.
Urgency
"In its July 2019 progress report, it added that the UK government’s policy actions fell well short of those required for the net-zero target.
"Given the urgency of the situation, as recognised by the Shropshire Council declaring a climate emergency, far stronger and more ambitious policies were needed in the local plan to drive up energy efficiency standards in new buildings, move towards active travel, dramatically increase the production of renewable energy and extend the current woeful amount of tree coverage in the county.
"Instead of this the plan merely repeats the policies regarding the council's own carbon emissions. These are just a fraction of the whole community.
"Of the 1.76 million tonnes of CO2e emitted across the county in 2017 the biggest contributions were business energy use at 39 per cent, road transport at 33 per cent, and domestic energy use at 26 per cent.
"There are appallingly few policies in this plan that will drive down carbon emission from these sectors in the future, let alone reach zero emissions by 2050."
