Sandgate Parish Council Environment Committee: Carbon Action Plan (March 2024)
The purpose of this document is to outline a Carbon Plan for the Parish of Sandgate. It follows the Carbon Literacy Course that Susan Claris attended on 4 December 2023 as part of the Parish and Town Councils Climate Action Day, in partnership with KALC. Susan was awarded a Carbon Literate Certificate on 10 January 2024. It also relates to Action 24: Carbon of the Environment Committee’s action plan which is our aim for Sandgate Parish Council to be a carbon neutral council.
The Carbon Plan is below. More information on how this was developed can be found in the Supporting Information that follows.
Carbon Plans should only include things that are proven, investible and readily available. The following change targets are accordingly selected for the Parish of Sandgate.
- Reduce energy demand from all buildings, including heritage assets – introduce solar panels on Council buildings where possible. This is being progressed on The Boat House.
- Reduce private car travel/increase public transport and active transport – seek to improve the walking, wheeling and cycling environment in Sandgate and reduce the dominance of the private car. This being progressed by trying to introduce a 20mph zone in the village, improving walking (e.g. a pedestrian refuge island at the bottom of Military Road) and improved cycle parking (e.g. introduction of cycle parking stands on the Village Green)
- New buildings to be net zero or net positive – this can be supported in our comments to the District Council on planning applications
- Consumption patterns – buy less, re-use/repair more – support for Sandgate Environmental Action initiatives, such as the pre-loved clothes sale
- Promote awareness of altering dietary patterns and reducing food waste – support for Sandgate Community Garden
- Land management practices – improve green spaces and promote biodiversity – actions such as wildflower seed sowing in Sandgate Park
- Carbon storage – seek to plant more trees where we can in our parks and green spaces
This plan and the actions should help the village reduce its carbon footprint and help Parish Councillors talk to others about the climate crisis and our impact.
This Carbon Plan was adopted by Sandgate Parish Council at a meeting on 25 March 2024.
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Evidence Report
In her Evidence Report (submitted following the Carbon Literacy course), Susan outlined her views on the most important changes that we need to make as a society to reach zero carbon as follows:
As a society we need to appreciate the scale and the urgency of the climate crisis and we all need to make changes in the way we live:
- in our homes – the energy we use and where it comes from
- how we travel – both everyday and for leisure/holidays, with more walking, cycling and public transport use, whilst reducing car ownership and use and flying less
- our diet – adopting a more plant-based diet and eating local food
- our habits – for example, reducing how much we buy, reducing our waste etc.
We need Government at national and local level to create the policies and legislative framework to facilitate and support the changes we need to make. We need to fully realise the global impacts of inaction, and that we won’t be affected equally – we have a duty of care towards those who will be impacted the greatest, particularly as these people will have contributed least to the problem.
We need to talk about the climate crisis in ways that people can understand and relate to. Talking about the global climate crisis and 420 atmospheric CO2 in parts per million may engage some, but not many. If, however, we talk to people in Sandgate about extreme weather events including storms, surface water flooding, high temperatures and drought, these are all things that people have recently experienced and can relate to. Similarly, in terms of talking about the actions that people can take, discussing the co-benefits can also be persuasive – for example, the cost savings that people can make from energy reduction. The messaging about the changes we need to make as a society to reach zero carbon needs be tailored to the local audience, and the Parish Council can help to do this.
The Evidence Report required Susan to commit to an individual action and a group action and her words on these are below. The new action relates directly to this Action Plan and the Group Action supports this, focusing on one aspect.
INDIVIDUAL ACTION
I am committing to preparing an Action Plan for Sandgate Parish Council to help the village reduce its carbon footprint and to help myself and the other Parish Councillors to talk to others about climate change and our impact. The Parish Council’s own carbon footprint is relatively low (as we use the local library for office space and meetings), so our local leadership outward facing role is our greatest opportunity to bring about change. The Action Plan will be structured around the various actions that can be taken by local councils and the various levers of influence (direct and indirect) for implementing these. This will help to identify actions and can also be used for monitoring purposes in terms of progress in implementing actions.
In terms of consumption, based on the information from the IMPACT tool, per household consumption emissions in Sandgate are 13t CO2e, with total consumption emissions of 30,796t CO2e (2,370 households). The largest sectors are consumption of goods and services (44%), followed by food and diet (27%) and travel (22%) – so these three sectors (which account for 93%) are the keys ones to focus on.
Greenhouse gases this will reduce: The Action Plan will be aimed at reducing consumption, so the greenhouse gases it will reduce are carbon dioxide and methane. In terms of the estimate of medium, changing behaviours is of course challenging, but if we could get 10% of the village households (237 households) to reduce their carbon footprint by 10% (from 13 to 11.7t CO2e), that would be an annual saving of just over 300 CO2e (237 households x 1.3t CO2e).
How
- Helping people to reduce their consumption of goods and services, for example, buying pre-loved clothes, having a tool library etc.
- Some changes to diet – to increase the proportion of plant-based food and reduce consumption of red meat, particularly imported beef and lamb.
- Altering travel patterns to have more active travel (walking, wheeling and cycling) and less use of cars, particularly for short journeys in the village.
Significance: If we can encourage people to talk to their friends and neighbours about their behaviours and the benefits that can come from making changes, then the scale of change – and the impact on carbon emissions – can start to grow to become significant.
GROUP ACTION
My expertise is as a transport planner, and I want to commit to working with others who have the responsibility for the highway network in the village (the County Council) to improve conditions for walking, wheeling and cycling in the village, so that active travel becomes the more attractive choice for local journeys. This would help to reduce car journeys – and 22% of the village’s consumption carbon footprint comes from travel.
Doing this with: Primarily the Highways Department at Kent County Council, but it could also involve the Planning Department at Folkestone and Hythe District Council. The District Council also has responsibility for the car parks in the village.
My specific role: To suggest improvements for walking, wheeling and cycling in the village, such as more pedestrian refuge islands to help people cross the road, footway improvements, cycle parking, seating etc. These measures will be outlined in the village’s Highway Improvement Plan, for when funding is available from the County Council. Funding may also become available through the Community Infrastructure Levy or through Section 106 agreements when there is new development.
Greenhouse gases this will reduce: Travel emissions in Sandgate are 6,683t CO2e (total) or 2.8t CO2e per household – half of these come from private transport (3,325t CO2e total). Achieving a modal shift of 5% would result in a reduction of 166t CO2e. The reduction would be in carbon dioxide.
How: this could be achieved by both improving measures for walking, wheeling and cycling, and managing parking to deter short trips. Information about the health benefits of active travel (and the carbon emissions resulting from short car journeys, as well as the cost to the motorist) could help to reinforce the message.
Significance: Once some people start to walk, wheel and cycle, this tends to encourage others to do likewise – so the benefits spread and can start to become significant. Also, having fewer people drive, makes the environment better for active travel, creating a virtuous cycle.
ACTION PLANNING FOR THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY
As noted above, the Action Plan is structured around the various actions that can be taken by local councils and the various levers of influence (direct and indirect) for implementing these, as outlined on the Carbon Literacy Course. The Levers of Influence are as follows:
- Direct control: own buildings, operations, travel, investments, pensions
- Procurement/commissioning: all services and goods brought in
- Placemaking: using powers to control how and where development occurs
- Convening: bringing people together, supporting partnerships, co-ordinating efforts by others
- Showcasing: demonstrating, promoting and rewarding good practice, social norming
- Engaging: translating a global issue for local resonance, inspiring action, providing civic leadership
The 13 suggested Change Targets are as follows:
- Reduce energy demand from all buildings, including heritage assets
- Smarter smoother energy demand
- Decarbonise power generation
- Decarbonise heat delivery
- Reduce private car travel/increase public transport and active transport
- Shift to electrified travel
- Reduce air travel
- New buildings to be net zero or net positive
- Consumption patterns – buy less, re-use/repair more
- Increase recycling
- Alter dietary patterns and reduce food waste
- Land management practices – improve green spaces and promote biodiversity
- Carbon storage – plant more trees
A Carbon Action Plan should only include things that are proven, investible and readily available. The following change targets are accordingly selected for the Parish of Sandgate.
- Reduce energy demand from all buildings, including heritage assets – introduce solar panels on Council buildings where possible. This is being progressed on The Boat House.
- Reduce private car travel/increase public transport and active transport – seek to improve the walking, wheeling and cycling environment in Sandgate and reduce the dominance of the private car. This being progressed by trying to introduce a 20mph zone in the village, improving walking (e.g. a pedestrian refuge island at the bottom of Military Road) and improved cycle parking (e.g. introduction of cycle parking stands on the Village Green)
- New buildings to be net zero or net positive – this can be supported in our comments to the District Council on planning applications
- Consumption patterns – buy less, re-use/repair more – support for Sandgate Environmental Action initiatives, such as the pre-loved clothes sale
- Promote awareness of altering dietary patterns and reducing food waste – support for Sandgate Community Garden
- Land management practices – improve green spaces and promote biodiversity – actions such as wildflower seed sowing in Sandgate Park
- Carbon storage – seek to plant more trees where we can in our parks and green spaces
Susan Claris, Chair of Environment Committee, March 2024