Dear Sir,
As many of you know, I resigned from Great Aycliffe Town Council last month. I had intended to resign next year when my wife and I moved house, but the sad death of Brian Hall forced a by-election in my ward, so I resigned early so that both seats could be decided at the same election (which they were last week) and thus save the Council money.
This left one loose end to tie up, which I had been waiting on the conclusion of COP26 to raise, which was seeking an update on the Town Council’s progress on the climate emergency, which it had acknowledged in 2019.
I therefore raised the following issues last week as a member of the public:
1. What is the Town Council currently doing as regards climate impact?
2. What is being done to prepare a Climate Plan?
THE TOWN CLERK ANSWERS:
Of course I already knew the answer to Q1! GATC has been ahead of the game in this area for decades, and the Town Clerk was able to give a detailed account of the Council’s significant achievements.
On the second issue, however, he was more cautious. Covid and the May election (and change of administration) had delayed progress, and no formal Plan or Policy had been prepared. Moreover, given staff workload pressures, neither could he foresee rapid progress on the preparation of such a Plan in the near future. He suggested the possibility of establishing a Climate Change Reserve in the next budget, and shared that the local larger town councils were talking about maybe employing a Climate Change Officer jointly.
THE COUNCILLORS’ DISCUSSION:
In the ensuing discussion, Cllr Eddy Adam declared the issue “something that we cannot avoid”, and linked it to the ecological emergency and the 2021 Environment Act. Cllr Jed Hillary asked for a report to be brought back to Council.
Apart from Cllr Tony Armstrong, however, who welcomed the opportunity for joint-working, the ruling administration remained silent, which was a bit worrying.
FUTURE PROGRESS:
However, I have done all I can, and this issue is now a matter for the Town Councillors. Residents on the town may wish to keep up the pressure on GATC to ‘do its bit’ – not just for mitigation measures, but perhaps even more urgently for proactive adaptation, so that residents are not caught unprepared by the warming climate and increased extreme weather events.
John D Clare