Let me say at the outset that this is my personal view (as Keith Melton) although I suspect it may ring a few bells with my GLD colleagues. This Op-Ed piece, if I may be as bold as to call it that, has been inspired this day by watching Caroline Lucas on the Andrew Marr show - if you have not seen it, then I would advise you look it up on iPlayer.
Representatives of West Norfolk Liberal Democrats joined hundreds of marchers at the Great Eastern March in Ipswich today.
Wirral Council is one of only three local authorities in the country where Secretary of State Sajid Javid has decided to intervene to ensure the timely production of a local plan to guide development in the borough.
Dear Sir,
Dear Sir,
Uttlesford's Liberal Democrat group leader, Cllr Alan Dean, says "Uttlesford must step up to the mark over airport expansion at Stansted. Its approach so far has been too laid back and opaque. UDC has given the impression that the airport's application to have 43 million passengers a year is a deal already done. The proposed uplift is almost as big as the last one 12 years ago." The Liberal Democrats were in charge of the council in 2005/6 when the present annual passenger limit was requested. The council held a total of 30 meetings leading up to the decision to refuse that application. This included seven extraordinary meetings of the planning committee to consider technical issues such as noise, air pollution, climate change emissions, and surface transport plus economic, employment, housing and health impacts. On top of those, there were seven public hearings at which people were invited to make representations. The hearings totalled twenty-one hours and forty-five minutes (21 hours 45 minutes). Cllr Dean
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!”
