In 2019, the council declared a climate emergency and set up a Climate Change Working Group which evolved into the community group Hadleigh Environmental Action Team (HEAT). In 2021, following the election of some new councillors, a revamped Climate Change & Environment Sub-Committee was created, which developed a Sustainability Policy and a Climate Change Action Plan which were adopted by the council. The council also adopted some guidance for the councillors when assessing planning applications from a climate change perspective. All those documents are below as is the Council’s Carbon Footprint.
Under our Sustainability Policy, the council aims to:
• carry out our work in an efficient way that minimizes or eliminates its adverse impact on our environment and minimizes or eliminates the council’s contribution to climate change
• promote the importance and value of protecting our environment and combatting climate change, in order to protect the quality of life of our community now and in the future
• promote a sense of community, and support residents in their efforts to improve and protect our local environment and to minimize their environmental impact by cutting carbon, waste and pollution.
Commitments in the policy include:
• reducing the council’s carbon footprint through energy efficiency throughout its operation to achieve becoming carbon neutral on energy use by 2030,
• supporting the community to reduce Hadleigh’s carbon footprint with the goal to become a carbon-neutral town by 2030 and will allocate funding to projects that aim to achieve this.
HTC Sustainability Policy – August 2022
HTC Climate Change Action Plan – August 2022
HTC Climate Change – Planning Application Assessment Guide – August 2022
Sustainable Supplier Policy – August 2023
Biodiversity Action Plan – Dec 23
At the end of 2022 the council monitored for the first time its greenhouse gas emissions. It will be updated at each half-year point and the new dashboard will be inserted below.
