Greener Almeley: proposal to the Parish Council

Proposal to the Almeley Parish Council (APC) 12th January 2022 Meeting

A group of around 25 residents from around the parish have recently got together to explore green issues. We have outlined a set of aims for the group and would like to bring these to the attention of the Parish Council, and to explore how we might work with the Council to achieve them.

The Almeley Green Group (AGG) is a voluntary group of local people who have come together with a shared interest in helping the Almeley community to respond and adapt to the climate and ecological emergencies.

We aim to help Almeley address and adapt to these challenges through community initiatives, local projects and by supporting and encouraging individual actions.  Through positive actions we aim to create and protect wildlife habitats in and around the village, rebuild natural environments and raise awareness. We seek to do this by reducing consumption and waste; encouraging recycling and reuse; creating and protecting wildlife habitats in and around the village; and in time adapting our energy use and transport to build a greener community for the future. 

In doing this we will continue to work with other groups in the village including the school, the Church, the Parish and District Councils, farmers and others.

We have already done a bit of research around the County to see what other Parish Councils are doing, and there are several where similar community groups exist and work alongside their Council. There are help and resources available for this through the Herefordshire Green Network (HGN) and there are grants available from Herefordshire Council for community climate and nature projects.

The AGG would like to advise the APC and seek support as appropriate on the following projects that AGG is currently focussing on:-

  1. Meer Pond Restoration Project

A volunteer work party started clearing some access paths through the brambles on the 24th November. We have sought advice from an ecological consultant and await their report and recommendations, and we have applied to Herefordshire County Council for a grant under their Community Climate and Nature Grant Scheme to restore the pond and common.

  1. Almeley Response to the Climate and Ecological Emergencies

We would like to work closely with the APC on this. Please see Appendix 1 attached.

  1. Community Recycling

A sub-group has done extensive research about materials that can be recycled beyond those already covered by council collection. We are in the process of working out how we could implement a simple project to encourage further recycling in the community.

This is a summary briefing for circulation in advance of the meeting. Some more background and detail will be provided as part of the presentation.

Appendix 1

Proposal for Almeley Green Group (AGG) Engagement with the Almeley Parish Council on the Climate and Ecological Emergency

Context:

  • The UK government has set targets for 2035 (78%) and 2050 (100%) for carbon emissions reduction and 2030 for nature recovery. A Net Zero Strategy was published in October 2021.
  • 83% of UK county and district councils have declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency and have climate action plans in place. Many parish councils have also declared a CEE and set their own targets providing a bottom up approach that will be required to link into the UK Gov top down strategy. [source: climateemergency.uk].
  • Herefordshire County Council declared a Climate Emergency in March 2019. This was strengthened in December to a Climate and Ecological Emergency. They resolved to set a target for their own council emissions to become zero carbon by 2030. They further have an aspiration for the county to become carbon neutral by 2030.

 

The Herefordshire Green Network (HGN) has been working on a pilot scheme to help parish councils across the county to engage with the climate emergency on a local level and to encourage actions from within the community. This pilot has been developed in partnership with the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales and is supported by Herefordshire County Council. The scheme is called “The Great Collaboration”.

At the January meeting of the Almeley Parish Council the AGG would like to propose:

  1. That the APC agrees to declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency.
  2. That the APC joins the HGN with a view to launching the Great Collaboration portal within Almeley – £50 joining fee.
  3. That the APC commits to developing an action plan for the community to reduce carbon emissions and increase biodiversity within the parish, using the Great Collaboration tool.
  4. That the AGG work with the APC, to provide resources, support, and enthusiasm to help develop and communicate this action plan.
  5. In particular, the AGG will help the APC to do what we can in the short term – those actions which are easy and that we can afford to do; and to get in a position to take advantage of national and local grants and schemes as and when they become available.