Council thanks people for helping to shape its work on climate change

Between 1 July and 30 September last year, 1,382 people visited the 'Let's Talk: Climate Change' online survey to have their say. The response was almost seven times the number of the previous climate change consultation in 2020, and one of the best consultation responses the council has ever received.

Over 1,000 respondents completed the survey, sharing their views on a number of project proposals that could help individuals and communities in the Chichester District to reduce their carbon emissions. All of this feedback has now been reviewed and is currently being used to help inform the development of the council's new Climate Emergency Action Plan, which will run from the second half of 2025 to 2030.

One of the key findings from the survey is that people are keen for the council to prioritise projects that help increase home energy efficiency and home renewable energy generation. The proposal to employ a Tree Strategy Officer when the current Government-funded post ends later this year, was also very popular. Over the past four years, the current Tree Officer role has led to more than 50,000 trees being planted across the district and supported 200 individual planting projects.

"I'd like to thank everyone who has taken part in this important consultation," says Cllr Jonathan Brown, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environmental Strategy at Chichester District Council. "It's really positive to see so many people getting involved and sharing their views and priorities.

"The consultation offered an important opportunity for everyone to come together to help tackle a crisis that affects us all, and the feedback we've received is vital in helping us to shape our plans for the future.

"While the council's emissions are only around 0.5% of the district's emissions as a whole, we've been working extremely hard to cut our carbon footprint — for example, in our buildings and in our vehicle fleet. Because we have a clear idea of what we need to do in this area, this consultation focussed on actions that would help individuals and organisations in the district to cut their carbon emissions. Having identified a range of project proposals — focussing on areas in which we believe we have the most influence and can make the biggest difference — we asked people to rank these in order of importance to them.

"The results from this have been incredibly useful and we're currently using this feedback to develop our new Climate Emergency Action Plan. This plan will set out the climate change projects that the council will take forward and deliver over the period 2025 to 2030. Once the plan has been developed, it will be considered by the council's Environment Panel in May, then its Overview and Scrutiny Committee, before being presented to Cabinet and Full Council in July of this year."

To keep updated on this work, people can follow the council's social media channels; visit the Chichester District Council latest news; or sign up to the council's monthly email newsletter.

Residents, businesses and organisations can also keep up-to-date on climate change projects and initiatives in the Chichester District by signing up to the council's climate change email newsletter.

Since declaring a climate emergency in 2019 and adopting its first Climate Emergency Action Plan in 2020, Chichester District Council has worked on a number of major projects to reduce its carbon footprint and to help people and organisations in the district to reduce their carbon footprints too. For more information about this work and what has been achieved, please visit the council's 'climate change' web page.

Date of release: 21/01/2025

Reference: 4425