The Darlington Borough Council Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) was founded following a motion put forward by Green councillors. It is a cross party group, with Matthew Snedker as the chair. As the saying goes – “a Green in the room” can make a massive difference, even without a Green majority in the council, and the CCWG is making a real difference.
Earlier this year Matthew attended the annual APSE (association of public sector excellence) energy summit. He saw presentations from a wide range of local authorities who had shown innovation in reducing their direct carbon emissions or enabling their communities to realise savings. The CCWG has been putting the knowledge gained to good use. Here are some examples of recent successes.
Solar panels on bin lorries
All bin lorries have batteries, which have a considerable load placed on them from the bin lifts and heaters. With conventional bin lorries, this means that the engine has to keep running to keep them working.
Following the intervention of the CCWG, thin film solar photovoltaic panels have been installed on top of the bin lorries, which will reduce the need for the battery to be topped up through the alternator. This will save diesel, cut air pollution and reduce carbon emissions.
Monitoring the council department’s carbon related decisions
All council departments are supposed to monitor how their decisions impact on the council’s move to net-zero carbon emissions. Currently the council is reliant on eagle-eyed Green Party councillors to spot and challenge statements about climate change that don’t add up. Through the CCWG Matthew is exploring an application that automatically tracks every paper created by council officers to ensure that the impacts on the climate are recorded accurately and signed off by senior managers.
Council officers asking Green Party councillors’ advice on energy efficiency issues in the planning of new council housing
Since Green Party councillors were first elected in 2019, they have been promoting long term improvements to council housing in the Borough. Bryony Holroyd has a huge amount of experience in the energy efficiency sector in relation to fuel poverty, having worked for National Energy Action (NEA). Matthew is a patron on the Passivhaus trust.
Between them, Bryony and Matthew have made the case for building the very best quality homes. This will reduce the cost of living for tenants, improve health and reduce ongoing maintenance costs. But more importantly, building houses that are fit for the future will avoid the huge cost of retrofitting insulation and new heating systems further down the line, with all the extra expense and disruption this would create.
The Green Group of councillors have taken the opportunity of a new council plan, to press for a commitment to build all new council houses to Passivhaus standards. This sustained lobbying has resulted in officers now asking green councillors for advice on how to assess the benefits of these affordable to heat, healthy homes.
Extending the range of plant based food offered by council catering services
Darlington Green Party adopted the Plant Based Treaty last year, committing to reduce the use of animal derived products wherever possible. Matthew is bringing this initiative to the council by asking the catering services in the council to cut their carbon emissions by reducing their reliance on ingredients with a high carbon footprint. Initially this will examine the amount of beef, lamb and dairy products used and look at replacing them with plant based alternatives.
Review of advertising and sponsorship on council communications
A review is being carried out looking at all advertising and sponsorship that appears on council assets - print, online, billboards and events. The aim is to ensure council messaging does not promote activities which are potentially harmful or industries which are not socially responsible.
This could mean banning the advertising of payday loans, alcohol, gambling, foods high in salt, fat or sugar and high carbon intensity products and services (including petrol or diesel vehicles and flying).