Climate Emergency
As of June 2019, Lowestoft Town Council has declared a Climate Emergency, entailing that the Town Council is actively looking at ways to reduce our environmental footprint. With this goal in mind, the Council has formed a Climate Emergency Committee to look at ways to help reduce the climate impact, carbon footprint and to provide environmental benefits to Lowestoft.
As part of the Climate Emergency declaration, the Town Council are regarding the following actions:
- Exploring and researching measures to better climate impacts and optimise beneficial natural environments
- Recommend responses on any significant policy consultations directly affecting Lowestoft
- Consider climate emergency action by local groups which might assist the Council's climate emergency activities
- Looking at means of assessing measures of current performance to establish the level of success of Council's policy
- Ensuring suitable risk management is in place to safeguard against adverse environmental impacts from Town Council activities or on Town Council assets
- Ensuring items no longer used by the Councils are appropriately disposed of
- Developing the Neighbourhood Plan taking account of the climate emergency
- Contract arrangements include appropriate environmental measures and safeguards
- Water and energy use is as efficient and environmentally friendly as is reasonably possible and using renewable energy sources where possible
- Supporting alternatives to car use including walking, cycling and public transport
- Encouraging the use of land for nature including increasing tree cover
- How best to support its declaration of carbon neutrality
As well as looking at the Climate Emergency Lowestoft Town Council has put in place a Sustainability Strategy and a Health and Wellbeing strategy. You can read the Sustainability Strategy Here and the Health and Wellbeing Strategy Here.
Supportive Organisations
The following organisations and areas include useful links to help with your climate change action:
- Businesses: Green Suffolk are offering free advice to businesses that are aiming to become greener and sustainable. Part of Suffolk County Councils, Creating the Greenest County initiative, they are working towards a greener future by supporting businesses and communities.
- The Carbon Trust provides guidance, webinars and reports on how businesses can be corporate sustainable, future energy systems and how to reduce you carbon footprint.
- Cycling: Cycling UK has gathered a varied list of community cycling groups and clubs around Suffolk, with maps, routes and resources, encouraging cycling around the county.
- Electric Vehicles: Zap Map has created a useful map showing all of the charging points in and the surrounding areas of Lowestoft
- Food Waste: The Food Savvy Website is packed with lots of useful advice to help individuals reduce food waste. With Savvy developed tips, recipes and activities for everyone to get involved with.
- Friends of the Earth: Passionate about the planet? The Friends of the Earth organisation are focused on making the environment a better place. With the communities help to prevent mass extinction on millions of species across the globe and the UK
- Keep It Clear: In association with Anglian Water, the Keep It Clear campaign provides information on what is and is not suitable to go down our drains. With regular updates and support, find out how you can keep our waters clear.
- Recycling: Suffolk Recycling offers a variety of advice on how to recycle properly, recycle center locations, preventing and reporting fly-tipping and learning resources for schools and communities to get involved.
- Woodland Trust: The Woodland Trust have launched a tree planting scheme to encourage local schools and communities to plant trees in their areas, the Trust supplying free trees in November and March for schools and communities.
- WWF Climate Footprint Questionnaire: The World Wildlife Federation has constructed a questionnaire to help you estimate your carbon footprint, offering advice and a goal scheme for you to achieve and reducing your carbon footprint.
Anglian Water is re-launching its Pollution Watch campaign with a call out to all to help us in protecting and preserving the environment across our region. The aim of the campaign is to enable them to act fast should the worst happen, or better still prevent the effect of a pollution in the first place.
They would like everyone to be their eyes (and nose) and let them know if you see something that isn’t right. We need to act fast!
How to spot a pollution?
- Sewage – including toilet paper, sanitary items, wipes, cotton buds in water
- Waste water in places where it shouldn’t be or unusual water flow out of manhole covers
- Water that is milky or discoloured or oily looking
- Water that contains soap suds
The aim of the Pollution Watch campaign is to create awareness and encourage everyone to report sewage pollution, so that Anglian Water can attend quickly and reduce any environmental impact.
They are asking anyone who spots this kind of pollution to take these three simple steps
• Act Fast
• Provide key details - time, location and conditions in the surrounding area
• Take photos (where possible)
You can let Anglian Water know by calling them at any time on 0345 714 5145, messaging them on their social media channels or reporting it to them online at anglianwater.co.uk/tell-us
We need to ensure that our activity does not contribute to environmental pollution. Anglian Water has multiple programmes of work to prevent spills, ongoing maintenance to regularly check and repair pumps and pipes and their Keep It Clear programme, which encourages people not to flush items or pour food, fats, oils and grease down sinks. This kind of waste blocks pipes and systems and 80 per cent of pollution incidents are caused by these avoidable blockages. Pollution Watch is an additional way of monitoring our region and it’s just one activity in Anglian Water's Pollutions Incident Reduction Plan that outlines their commitments to reducing pollutions.
