Climate Emergency Declaration: “Felixstowe Town Council declares a Climate Emergency and will set up a Working Group to determine how we can reduce, to a minimum, our carbon footprint by 2030.” – FULL COUNCIL, JULY 2019

Since this time the Council’s Climate Emergency Working Group has met regularly to progress the Council’s Climate Emergency Action plan .

LATEST NEWS:

Our inaugural Climate Action Meeting was held on 12th October. Representatives from The Port of Felixstowe, East Suffolk Council, local community groups and organisations such as Litter-Free Felixstowe and Felixstowe Peninsula Methodist Churches Climate Emergency Working Group, students and staff from Felixstowe School, Town Councillors and Town Council staff came together to share ideas on how to reduce carbon emissions in Felixstowe. Notes from the meeting can be found here.

ACTIONS WE’VE TAKEN SO FAR:                                        

Council had Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates carried out in 2020 and have used these as a baseline for improving the efficiency of our buildings. 

  • Introduced Single use Plastic Policy
  • Cycle to Work Scheme
  • Key partner in the East Suffolk Cycling and Walking Strategy
  • No Idling promotion in Schools
  • Re-wilding in Langley Avenue
  • Encouraging Wildlife at the Cemetery
  • Reducing use of Herbicides or Pesticides
  • Separating and recycling waste
  • Car Sharing and holding more meetings online.
  • Replacing all lights at end of their life with LED
  • Insulated to 270mm in uninsulated areas
  • Replacing all garden tools with battery rechargeable power tools
  • Use 100% renewable energy Suppliers
  • Grey Water used for watering Felixstowe in Flower baskets
  • New electric van, reducing our consumption of diesel
  • Shared working has been carried out with other local councils as part of the National Association of Local Councils Climate forum

WHAT’S NEXT:

A project is underway to replace the Town Hall’s single glazing with innovative slimline double glazing, using the latest technology to provide high levels of insulation whilst respecting the building’s heritage.

Grants to support organisations to deliver local environmental projects. See our Grants page here: felixstowe.gov.uk/grants

Working closely with the Felixstowe Youth Forum with a focus on the environment.

Continuing to work with community groups to support environmental projects, such as a Repair Café and a ‘Library of Things’, and to help the Allotment Association FAA become a ‘Champion’ for composting.

     

USEFUL LINKS TO HELP WITH CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION:     

The following are some useful links to help with your climate change action:

Car Sharing: www.suffolkcarshare.com is a free to use and secure web-based matching service for anyone wishing to share a car journey as either a driver or passenger. Go to  http://www.greensuffolk.org/travel/journey-planning/car-sharing/  for a savings calculator to see how much money you can save.

Cycling: Sustrans offer advice on more cycling and walking https://www.sustrans.org.uk/ .  If you are interested in setting up a local cycle group, please contact us for more information on grants that may be available.

Public Transport: The Town Council works closely with Felixstowe Travelwatch.  For information go to their website at http://ftw.onesuffolk.net/.

Solar Panels:  Suffolk County Council run a successful group buying scheme called Solar Together Suffolk which offers savings on the installation of solar panels for your home  https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/planning-waste-and-environment/solar-together-suffolk/.

Businesses:  Groundwork East offer Net Zero advice to businesses and community organisations on topics such as carbon footprint calculations, decarbonisation plans, advice on grants and funding, policy development, business case evaluations, staff engagement and technological and legislative updates, contact them via netzerosuffolk@groundwork.org.uk or for further information see  https://carboncharter.org/suffolk-business-consultancy/  

If your business would like to receive accreditation for their environmental credentials, you can become a member of the Suffolk Carbon Charter, see https://carboncharter.org/ for details.

Further guidance can also be found at https://eastsuffolkmeansbusiness.co.uk/business-support/resources/environmental-sustainability/ .  You can find a free tool for calculating your carbon footprint here http://www.greensuffolk.org/at-work/carbon-footprint-calculator

The Carbon Trust also provides advice for business https://www.carbontrust.com/home/

East Suffolk Greenprint Forum have led on schemes such as the Yellow Fish project and Bin the Butt.  They are a voluntary network, facilitated by the District Council, anywhere can join for free to help inform and learn from their thinking. https://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/environment/east-suffolk-greenprint-forum/

Electric Vehicles: For a map of electric vehicle charge points in Felixstowe see https://www.zap-map.com/locations/felixstowe-charging-points/

Plug in Suffolk (Suffolk County Council) is the UK’s first fully open fast charging network, where no phone app or membership card is required to charge and are looking for companies with accessibility to expand the EV charger network in Suffolk and Norfolk see https://www.pluginsuffolk.org/ for further details.

Recycling:  For further information on recycling and donating to charity please see  https://www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk/

Foodwaste:  Food Savvy is an organisation supported by Suffolk County Council to help reduce food waste and give ideas to save both food and money.  https://www.foodsavvy.org.uk/