29 January 2022
Fantastic news for Waverley Borough Council – a new report on council climate plans has found WBC are the best council in Surrey, and fifth across the whole country, with a score of 76%!
The report, released by released by Climate Emergency UK, examined council Climate Action Plans in nine different sections. It was certainly no surprise to us that the Green Party is represented on four of the top five district councils, including as part of the governing alliance on two. On both these councils – including WBC – a Green councillor heads the Environment Committee.
Guildford Borough Council scored relatively poorly with just 39%, performing below average. We hope that better integration with WBC – including with Green councillor Steve Williams, who is portfolio holder for environment at Waverley – will enable GBC to catch up with the neighbouring borough quickly.
Waverley is surging ahead on sustainable housing, with all new social builds to be net zero carbon, including several Passivhaus-standard homes finished last year – among the first built and rented by local authorities nationwide. On green transport, WBC is making significant investment in walking and cycling infrastructure, EV charging and improving public transport. The council also strongly opposes fossil fuel drilling locally, with Green Party and other councillors heavily represented at the recent Toe2Toe demonstration in Dunsfold.
Meanwhile, Surrey County Council scored slightly higher, at 48% – but along with our Green county councillors, we have serious concerns about SCC’s climate strategy and delivery plans. Targets in the strategy plan are frequently far behind where they need to be to avoid significant climate and ecological impacts, and some key areas have no targets at all. On top of that, the delivery plan fails to lay out paths to meet all targets. Some schemes the plan relies on to achieve its goals – like the Green Homes Grant – had already been scrapped by the government long before the plan was approved by Conservative councillors.
Steve Williams, Green councillor for WBC and Godalming Town Council, said “I’m delighted to see Waverley's ranking in this Climate Emergency UK report. I want to thank my fellow Green Party councillor on WBC, Martin D'Arcy, and the many Green members and supporters across the borough for their hard work in the development of this plan. I would also like to thank all the local residents who responded to our consultation on the draft plan.
"I look forward to continuing to work with other progressive councillors - Greens, Liberal Democrats, Labour, Residents and Independents - as well as the excellent council officers to make this Action Plan a reality. In particular, WBC's Sustainability Team led by Fotini Vickers will be instrumental in our work to make the borough a greener, fairer, healthier and happier place to live. The biggest challenge we face is not feasibility or ambition - it is continued Tory funding cuts to local authority budgets.”
This success proves once again that when Greens are elected, we deliver the positive changes that people voted for, working collaboratively to move forward an agenda for a Green New Deal locally. It is possible to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies in a way that ultimately not only saves money, but also creates healthier towns and villages, cuts bills, provides green jobs, and builds community. We look forward to working cross-party in Guildford and Waverley (and on Surrey County Council) to realise this greener future in a fair and sustainable way.
