Cycling should be at the heart of making Chelmsford's transport more sustainable. Chelmsford's Lib Dem-led Council has launched a new charter, with the aim of showing wide-spread support for safer cycling from Chelmsford's communities.
Bedford's historic town bridge has been illuminated in Pink and Blue since 9th October to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week, and will join a wave of light on the 15 October to show support for individuals, families and charities supporting those affected by the loss of a baby during pregnancy, at or soon after birth and in infancy.
The evidence from SAGE shows that the Government has utterly failed to ensure the Test and Trace system is functioning properly to help stop the growing spread of the virus which has resulted in this second wave. The country has made enormous sacrifices to try and contain the pandemic, and people will be rightly appalled to read that the Government have once again, ignored the best scientific advice and wasted the sacrifices everyone made. Yesterday, Boris Johnson made little effort to explain how his Government would get a grip on the rising cases so we have a chance of coming out of these restrictions. Until the Prime Minister fixes the test and trace system, people will continue to face lockdown as a result of his incompetence. The minutes from the Sage committee recommended immediate action on the 21st September, yet only yesterday did Johnson implement measures to protect citizens.
On the floor of the House of Commons this afternoon, local MP Tim Farron called for urgent government intervention to protect outdoor education centres in Cumbria from going out of business.
Following a motion by the Lib Dems, Surrey County Council unanimously agreed to introduce 'school streets' in Surrey with the aim of encouraging active travel, improving air quality and promoting road safety.
Since 1974, applications have been welcomed each year around this time from residents of Folkestone to apply for the Town Mayor of Folkestone's Christmas Fund for assistance with their winter expenses. Prior to 1974 this was known as the Mayor's Coal Fund and gifts of coal were distributed to those eligible.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
