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Welcome to your monthly Climate Change update.
Northumberland County Council is committed to making our county carbon neutral by 2030 and we need everyone to do their bit to help reduce carbon emissions.
How can you help make a difference? 👇
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Spotlight on the community |
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Talking Marra's community garden
Last month our Corporate Fraud Team used their team development day to make a real difference to a community group. Our volunteer team linked them up with community group The Talking Marra's, based in Ashington, who needed support to re-develop their community garden space. They dismantled old planters, replaced them with new ones and shifted soil and rubble from the garden to help make it a fantastic community space.
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Council aims to protect grass verges across the county
The Council is looking at ways to protect grass verge following a visit to Whitley Chapel C of E First School by Council Leader Glen Sanderson, where pupils showed him the wildflowers on the nearby verge they are protecting and their importance for the environment. The school, with help from the Slaley, Healey and Hexhamshire Community Environmental Group, has taken ownership of protecting a verge nearby and, thanks to funding from the Council’s Northumberland Climate Change Fund, has been able to set up a free wildflower identification training event for budding and experienced botanists alike.
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New podcast aims to help farmers in Northumberland plant more trees
A new podcast series is being launched by The Great Northumberland Forest giving a glimpse into how farmers in Northumberland are creating more woodlands on their land. The podcast series looks at topics including agroforestry – the combination of agriculture and woodland creation - planting for nature and wetlands and planting in small areas. If you are a land manager interested in finding out more about adding trees to your property, or you have had trees damaged through Storm Arwen and are looking for help to restore these, please contact The Great Northumberland Forest Team by emailing enquiries.forest@northumberland.gov.uk. You can also phone 01670 623416 and request a call back. Please leave a voicemail with your name, number and a short message. A member of our team will call you back, usually within a week.
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Protecting the environment at forefront of Council plans
The council is looking to place a greater emphasis on improving the environment and has committed to leading the region’s response to nature recovery. From dealing with littering to creating more green spaces and woodlands, the council will be working hard to ensure the county’s stunning natural resources are protected and enhanced. It comes as the council plans to refresh and update the council’s climate change action plan and build on the successful work the council has done since it declared a climate emergency back in 2019.
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Environmental work honoured in LOVE Northumberland awards
The Duchess of Northumberland has helped to celebrate the very best in community and voluntary environmental work across the county at this year’s LOVE Northumberland awards ceremony. Nineteen groups, organisations, schools and individuals were honoured with winner, runner-up or highly commended awards across seven categories in what is now the event’s 13th year. Representatives of all shortlisted entries were invited to attend the event at The Alnwick Garden, which was hosted by BBC Radio Newcastle presenter Anna Foster, along with Deputy Chairman and Ceremonial Head of the County Council, Councillor Catherine Seymour.
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Groundbreaking ceremony for state-of-the-art Blyth learning facility
The official breaking ground of the new £13.6m Energy Central Learning Hub was marked on 5 July and was attended by a range of representatives from the local authorities, industry partners and education institutions. Councillor Glen Sanderson, Leader of Northumberland County Council, Mayor of North of Tyne Combined Authority, Jamie Driscoll, and CEO at Port of Blyth and Chair of the Energy Central Campus, Martin Lawlor, were the first people to put spades in the ground at the ceremony. The event highlighted the collaborative nature of the development, bridging the gap between employers, education institutions and Northumberland residents to provide a clear pathway for local people to gain the skills needed to land a job in the clean energy sector.
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District heat network plans move one step closer
County Councillors have approved the next stage in the planning of new district heat networks in Alnwick, Ashington, Berwick, Blyth, Cramlington, Hexham, Morpeth and Prudhoe. This involves undertaking a major procurement exercise to appoint a heat provider which will be responsible for progressing and financing the detailed design, consultation, planning, construction and operation of heat networks in each of the eight towns on a commercial basis. Heat networks are a core part of the UK’s strategy to deliver net zero. In urban areas and towns, they are often the lowest cost, low carbon heating option, offering a communal solution that can provide heat to a range of homes and businesses by capturing or generating heat locally.
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New rapid EV (Electric Vehicle) chargers for Northumberland towns
The Council has been awarded £453,000 from the Government’s Levelling Up fund for the provision of ten new rapid EV chargers to be installed at Ashwood Business Park, Ashington, Chapel Street Car Park, Berwick, Greenwell Road, Alnwick, Newmarket Car Park, Morpeth, Otterburn village, Queen Street Car Park, Amble and Wentworth Car Park, Hexham. Rapid charge points are the fastest way to charge an electric and these will be added to the Council’s existing network of 243 EV chargers by March 2025.
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Historic pollution clean-up work gets the final go-ahead
The Council has allocated £5m to tackle historical pollution on the coast at Lynemouth and works are set to get underway this winter. All the necessary planning and regulatory approvals have been secured for the scheme and the work has now been programmed to meet the optimal weather and ecological window for delivering the scheme. There will be minor works taking place this autumn, including groundwater sampling to monitor the existing contamination levels, and vegetation clearance to prevent common lizards and ground nesting birds from settling on site. Council teams also continue to visit weekly to monitor and remove material from the beach, where able and safe to do so. The public is reminded they should not seek to remove material themselves.
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£250 up for grabs through our school sustainability logo competition There is still time for your school to help us create a logo for the Northumberland Schools Sustainability Network (NSSN). First, High, Middle, Primary, Secondary and Special schools are invited to take part in creating an iconic logo which will incorporate the essence of the network and give it a unique identity. Schools are being asked to think about what sustainability means to them and the actions we should be taking on climate change in Northumberland. Please submit one design per school by Friday 21 July by scanning and emailing a copy to climate@northumberland.gov.uk
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Don’t miss out on energy efficiency grants
Residents who applied to the Council’s Warmer Homes scheme in May this year are being asked to re-apply to avoid missing out. If you applied to the Warmer Homes scheme between 2 May and 16 June, and have not had a reply, please re-submit your application. A technical issue means you might not be registered correctly. No personal details have been put at risk as no information has been able to be submitted due to a link error. This means no data has been received or stored on the system. Unfortunately, this also means the Council is unable to identify those who have been affected.
Warmer Homes incorporates the Governments Green Home Grants Local authority delivery (LAD) and Home Upgrade schemes (HUG) which are part of the Government’s sustainable warmth strategy.
The deadline to apply for the Local authority delivery (LAD) scheme ends 24 July 2023. This is for homes that have main gas heating, that is if you have a mains gas boilers or fire and includes the requirement for evidence of eligibility to be sent to us.
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Need a strategy to help tackle the climate crisis?
If you need help responding to the climate crisis, apply to Become Green Together. This fantastic programme is already helping over 50 voluntary and community organisations to become environmentally sustainable. With subsidised training and full bursaries available, make sure not to miss out on the final application window.
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Solar-powered community building project update
Community Action Northumberland (CAN) is a partner in the Northumberland solar-powered community buildings project which started in 2022 and has ambitious plans to install solar panels and associated battery storage into participating buildings across rural Northumberland.
The project aims to:
- Reduce energy costs for community buildings in Northumberland.
- Support resilience in response to long term climate change and short-term events.
- Reduce carbon footprint of community activities.
- Generate revenue for community groups.
…all whilst limiting risk and maximising reward for community groups.
So far, it has undertaken initial feasibility work at 39 community buildings and has a waiting list of others which would like to join. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact info@ca-north.org.uk
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This email has been produced by the Northumberland County Council Communications team. |
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