Climate Change Strategy Action Plan
This Climate Change Strategy Action Plan sets out the programme of activity which is a mix of schemes delivered across the Council with many supported by our partners and involving engagement with our residents, schools, voluntary organisations, and businesses.
Chorley Council cannot deliver our vision and priorities alone and we need the support of our residents, businesses, partners, and visitors to help us to make Chorley a greener, cleaner, and more sustainable place to live, work and relax.
All of our actions fall within our nine identified priorities and will contribute to at least one of our Strategic Objectives for climate change and ultimately, our vision of a net zero borough.
How we will Monitor our performance
Performance against the actions within this strategy will be reported to the Climate Change Working Group each quarter and also as part of general service performance reporting to Executive Cabinet and the Executive Member for Climate Change.
| Priority | Action | Lead | Completion Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Embed climate change in everything the Council does from policy to decision making | Refresh the Corporate Integrated Impact Assessment to ensure robust and transparent evaluation of environmental implications of new policies, strategies, and services. | Performance and Partnerships | Dec 2024 |
| Objectives and measures to mitigate climate change where feasible are included in any new and refreshed Council policy including the Corporate Strategy | Performance and Partnerships | Annually | |
| Explore ways to introduce mechanisms to introduce into the procurement process the evaluation and assessment of environmental impact | Procurement | Dec 2024 | |
|
Deliver the decarbonisation of Council owned assets and improve the sustainability of the Council's fleet |
Develop a plan to progress the Council's conversion to electric vehicles | Streetscene, Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) | Dec 2024 |
| Undertake an annual carbon footprint audit of the Council and report progress | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) | Annually | |
| Develop and implement a Sustainable Policy for Council Buildings to ensure that all future development the Council undertakes meets sustainability and net zero targets and there is a clear action plan for existing buildings to be decarbonised. |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) Property Services Commercial Services |
March 2023 | |
| Complete and evaluate the trial use of Hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel to determine its safety and carbon saving throughout the fleet | Streetscene | Dec 2022 | |
| Complete the programme replacement of spent bulbs with energy efficient LED lights where feasible across all council assets | Property Services | Dec 2024 | |
| Develop a roadmap for Council asset retrofitting and decarbonisation work. Feasibility studies will provide cost estimations, priorities, and carbon savings |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) Property Services |
March 2024 | |
| Develop robust planning policies to deliver adaption and mitigation | Develop & adopt Local Plan policies for climate change including flood risk & sustainable drainage, biodiversity net gain, green and blue infrastructure, open space, clean energy, and sustainable transport. | Spatial Planning (supported by Climate Change Team) | Dec 2023 |
| Support local communities in the preparation of Neighbourhood Plans and incorporation of policies for Climate Change | Spatial Planning (Supported by Climate Change Team) | Dec 2024 | |
|
Provide safe spaces for walking and cycling, promote sustainable public transport and greener private and commercial vehicles. |
Produce an Infrastructure Delivery Plan which includes new schemes for cycling, walking and improved public transport | Spatial Planning | Dec 2023 |
| Deliver the recommendations of the Sustainable Public Transport Overview and Scrutiny Task Group | Spatial Planning | Dec 2022 | |
| In Partnership with LCC, develop a Highways and Transport Masterplan for Central Lancashire include a stand- alone Transport Strategy for Chorley to support delivery of the new Local Plan. | Spatial Planning | Dec 2022 | |
| Produce an Options Paper of sustainable transport initiatives for the town centre such as electric bike schemes, park and ride schemes, car sharing schemes and enhancement of public transport. | Spatial Planning | Aug 2022 | |
| Complete an assessment of the feasibility and demand for electric vehicle charge points within the Borough, including community facilities and land owned not only by the Council and produce a report with options and recommendations. |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) Property Services Commercial Services |
Dec 2022 | |
| Investigate the feasibility and business case for the Council to establish a service to offer HVO fuel for residents to use in own private vehicles, include safety, financial, legal and demand | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) | Dec 2022 | |
| Investigate the feasibility, benefits, and costs of delivery of green bus stops | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team and Open Space Strategy) | June 2022 | |
| Working with the Canal and Rivers Trust develop a programme of potential investment in the network in Chorley | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team and Open Space Strategy) | Aug 2022 | |
| Develop and publish an EV Infrastructure Strategy to include specific actions relating to EV charging and relevant policies |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team). |
March 2024 | |
| Evaluate existing provision of cycle storage within the town centre and Astley park and develop a programme to increase capacity | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team). Commercial Services |
March 2023 | |
| Undertake a survey about Cycling in Chorley to inform future investment | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) | December 2022 | |
| Work with housing providers, landlords, developers, and businesses to promote and encourage energy efficiency and decarbonisation of buildings. | Using existing channels such as the Developers Forum and RP Framework, cascade and promote new policy such as Future Homes Standard and showcase best practices of high-quality low carbon opportunities. |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) |
Dec 2023 |
| Support residents to make their properties more energy efficient and affordably warm including practical help and advice | Communities | Dec 2023 | |
|
Promote opportunities in access to grant funding for low carbon heating and energy |
Communities | Dec 2023 | |
| Produce an options paper to explore all current and emerging low carbon technology, potential energy savings, costings, limitations, and identify options for the Council. | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) | Sept 2022 | |
| Promote low carbon incentives and enable access to government funding within the Borough for low carbon technology | Lobby National Government in writing to ensure low carbon energy, EV charging points and increased insulation is available for everyone within housing developments. Enabling powers through planning and the white paper. | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) | Feb 2022 |
| Investigate the feasibility of small scale renewable energy installation programs to home owners across the borough for potential discounts and support to homeowners. | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) | March 2023 | |
| Improve the Borough's recycling rates and work with partners, residents, businesses, schools, community groups and internally to reduce the volume of landfill waste produced in the Borough | Publish a waste and recycling strategy for Chorley & South Ribble which will guide the Council towards the UK recycling target of 65% | Waste Services Streetscene | Dec 2022 |
| Increase the number of recycling bins in public spaces based off demand and ensure it is recycled effectively | Waste Services Streetscene | Apr 2023 | |
| Determine the use of single use plastics within Council assets and level of waste generated to identify potential areas of improvement to limit plastic waste in the Borough | Waste Services Streetscene | Dec 2022 | |
| Maximise the reuse and recovery of household bulky waste by investigating the donation of white goods and furniture | Waste Services Streetscene | Oct 2022 | |
| Support community groups to coordinate an annual school uniform swap schemes for local families | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) |
Aug 2022 Aug 2023 |
|
| Investigate feasibility and potential uptake of reuse schemes including keep cup and podback |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) |
December 2023 | |
| Influence behaviour change by sharing knowledge, best practice and promoting debate around climate change across all groups and ages. | Produce and publish an annual carbon audit of the borough to highlight areas of improvement within the borough | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) | Annually |
| Draft and publish Climate Change Engagement Strategy with specific actions relating to community events, support and advice |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) |
April 2023 | |
| Develop an online 'Climate Change Handbook'. A collection of information for sustainability, detailing organisations and local businesses who can support climate change initiatives, recycling, and decarbonisation initiatives |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) Communications Business Engagement Team |
July 2022 | |
| Deliver staff and Elected member training sessions on Climate Change as part of roll out of this strategy. |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) |
July 2022 | |
| Coordinate and enable community-based and online events, campaigns, and training opportunities on a number of topics relating to climate change. |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) Communications |
Dec 2024 | |
| Work with partners such as Inspire Youth Zone and the Schools to develop a programme of learning for young people on climate change |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) Communications |
Dec 2022 | |
| Develop a 'green accreditation' system for Chorley businesses including for buildings, which will be universal for all businesses within the Borough. This will be a check list system with an overall rating |
Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) Business Engagement Team |
Dec 2022 | |
| Collaborate with local universities for increased research and education within the borough | Spatial Planning (Climate Change Team) | September 2023 | |
|
Deliver investment and improvements in the natural environment including waterways, areas of open space, natural habitats to deliver an increase in the biodiversity of Chorley. |
Deliver the Air Quality Strategy Action plan |
Communities Spatial Planning Planning Services |
Dec 2024 |
| Continue to source available space for wildflower and wildlife corridors and ensure these spaces are optimised and maintained |
Spatial Planning (Open Space Strategy Team) |
Dec 2024 | |
| Deliver the Emergency Tree Action Plan including the target to plant 116,875 trees by 2025 |
Spatial Planning (Open Space Strategy Team) |
Dec 2024 | |
| Deliver a comprehensive system to record the baseline of canopy tree cover and spatial distribution of the ongoing planting |
Spatial Planning (Open Space Strategy Team & Climate Change) |
Dec 2022 | |
| Identify opportunities to work with partners to enhance our rivers, improve biodiversity and prevent flood risk |
Spatial Planning (Open Space Strategy Team) |
July 2021 | |
| Hold tree giveaways twice a year for residents to plant their own trees upto 2025 | Spatial Planning (Open Space Strategy Team) | Annually to March 2025 |