Steve Darling: Creating more options, not restricting freedoms

Dutch businessman and author Paul Polman was once quoted as saying: “Climate change is sometimes misunderstood as being about changes in the weather. In reality, it is about changes in our very way of life.”

After some years of debate around climate change, we’re now in a place where the vast majority of societies throughout the world see climate change as fact and an existential threat to our way of life.

Very recently, these conversations - and some misunderstandings - took centre stage in Torbay with a series of protests at council meetings. Flyers were also circulated referring to '15-minute cities’, which wrongly suggested there were plans to restrict freedom of movement in Torbay.

As a council, we looked at the evidence and information available to us and, a few years back, we declared a climate emergency along with our ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Since then, we have sought input from a range of local partners to shape our response and help cut the Bay’s carbon emissions.

Following the recent protests, the council met with some of the protestors last week to try and understand their concerns and so we could all communicate more effectively with each other.

The council doesn’t want to deny people the right to move around as the leaflets state. What we want to do is find out what facilities are in a 20-minute walking, cycling or wheeling zone to help us develop more sustainable neighbourhoods.

All of us will then have a much bigger choice on whether to stay in our local area or shop, visit and travel elsewhere. This is about creating more options not restricting freedoms.

Some people have concerns about their freedom and sometimes, with so much content on social media, it can be difficult to know which sources of information are the most reliable. But we want to work with you to agree an action plan that everyone can play their part in.

Taking action locally will not only help our planet - it will also have many other benefits such as saving money on our heating bills, creating cleaner air and helping us to be healthier through walking and cycling more when possible.

We're already making good progress on our own Carbon Neutral Council Action Plan with a range of projects under way.

We’re looking at how we can make our council buildings more energy efficient and have recently installed a new heat pump in Torre Abbey to replace the old conventional gas boiler, saving energy and carbon dioxide. A heat pump, new solar panels and LED lighting have also been installed at Torbay Leisure Centre.

We are reviewing our council fleet and planning how to transition over to low / zero emission vehicles. Funding has been secured to install charging points in our car parks for electric vehicles and we are developing solar farms.

Trees also play a role in helping to address the climate crisis by absorbing carbon, improving local air quality, and helping to prevent flooding. The findings in the latest i-Tree report showed that the number of trees had reduced from 692,000 in 2010 to 458,800 in 2021. However, the actual canopy cover had increased significantly over the same ten-year period, meaning more carbon was being stored.

We are committed to investing in looking after our existing, established trees and we will plant more as part of our commitment to tackle climate change.

However, England’s environmental watchdog has 'little good news' about government targets like cleaning polluted water and preserving vital species, finding it unready to meet a single one. Rather, it will miss 14 of the 23 targets. The government's 25-Year Environment Plan 'has so far failed to bring about the changes needed'.

There’s more information on what we are doing as a council on our website www.torbay.gov.uk/climate-change. You’ll also find details on how you can do your bit and take action to help the planet.