Recently, we were sent the Environmental Sustainability Strategy Action Plan Annual Assessment Report by the Council. This is great because it gives local groups like ourselves ownership and input of and into local affairs. It also makes for interesting reading. Now, it will always be the case that environmental issues play second string to economic ones in times of recession. That's life. That's capitalism. However, at least sustainability is somewhere on the agenda.

Here are some selected highlights:


WORKING IN PARtNERSHIP

1.      A great deal of work has been undertaken in the past year to help foster initiatives within the community to help reduce carbon emissions.  The Council has provided funding of £5,000 to help the establishment of up to five Greening Campaigns in communities throughout the Borough.  Greening Campaigns are an innovative idea to help people to reduce their energy consumption and lower their personal and community carbon footprint by committing themselves to a number of challenges.  They are based on the principle that individuals may feel powerless to change things on their own but that communities working together can make a real difference.  So far Greening Campaigns have been established in Stubbington and Fareham North and there are plans for further Campaigns in Fareham Town, Broadlaw Walk and Portchester.

2.      A similar ethos concerning the power of communities acting together underlies the network of Transition towns which started off in Totnes, Devon in 2005.  Transition Fareham has been set up by members of the local community in recent months with the aim of making Fareham a more sustainable place to live and to draw attention to the need to reduce energy consumption in the light of the depletion of the world's energy resources.

3.      Members of the community have also recently set up a Greener Fareham website to co-ordinate information and activities around the sustainability agenda.





However, in reality, there is little of any GREAT substance:

ReDUCING THE COUNCIL'S CARBON FOOTPRINT

1.      The Action Plan contained a number of measures designed to reduce carbon emissions from the Council's own civic estate.  These included measures to reduce energy consumption in civic buildings and to reduce fuel consumption in the Council's vehicle fleet.  Some work has now been completed.  This includes the installation of low energy light fittings in Osborn Road car park, replacement of the boilers at Ferneham Hall, the fitting of fuel savings devices to two refuse collection vehicles and eco driver training.  In addition, a hybrid vehicle is being procured for car park patrols as part of the vehicle replacement programme. The Energy Savings Trust has undertaken a Green Fleet Review of the vehicle fleet and the results of this are still awaited.

2.      Other work is ongoing.  This includes upgrades to the IT system and changes to cabling to the heating, cooling and data systems which are being undertaken as part of the current work to the Civic Offices.

3.        Some work is still planned.  This includes investigating the feasibility of fitting solar photovoltaic panels to Civic Buildings to take advantage of the generous arrangements currently in place for payments to be made for the generation of electricity through the Feed In Tariff (FIT).  The FIT is fixed for 25 years, is inflation linked and, as it is payable by electricity suppliers, is not affected by the current pressures on public finances.  It is currently under review by the Government and will be much less generous for installations completed from April 2012. It does, however, make the provision of solar PV Panels a much more attractive position as the payback period is reduced to 8 or 9 years from the 25 years which was the case prior to the introduction of the FITs scheme. There is also the possibility of the Panels being provided at no cost to the Council, with the installer benefiting from the FIT payments.  The results of this feasibility study will be reported to the Executive in due course.

4.        Some actions are on hold as there are doubts as to whether the costs outweigh the benefits. These actions, such as the installation of smart meters and the provision of a GPS system for refuse collection vehicles will be kept under review.

5.        The Action Plan contained a target of reducing the Council's carbon emissions by 10% in the two years between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2011 and by 4% per annum in subsequent years.  The actions taken to date mean that the Council is well on the way to achieving this target the 2009/10 year showed a reduction of 8%.  Figures for 2010/11 will be available in June.  The actions also had the effect of improving the Display Energy Certificate Rating of the three main Civic Buildings.



Although, if their figures are correct, then their own carbon emissions are reducing. All in all, it is good to have been communicated over this matter. It is something that we, at Transition Fareham, appreciate.