Local Lib Dem Councillors Pete Roberts (Llandrindod South) and Jake Berriman (Llandrindod North) have expressed their anger at the decision by Barclays to close their Llandrindod branch in August. . .
There have been reports in the media recently about plastic from the UK being sent to Turkey to be burnt. That won't be ours, as neither Wiltshire Council or its waste contractors export any plastics to Turkey.
The Liberal Democrats successfully forced South Gloucestershire Council to pass a motion at this week’s Annual Council Meeting, calling for a significant increase in rural bus services, to be paid for with funding from Central Government.
Claire Bonham, Liberal Democrat campaigner in Upper Norwood & Crystal Palace, has written to Historic England to add her support to the campaign to stop the demolition of the Central Hill estate.
The official statement from ARLA Foods reads as follows: Energy from Waste facility proposed by Hills Group for Westbury "This statement relates to the energy from waste facility proposed by Hills Group to be built adjacent to our site at Stephenson Road in Westbury. For the reasons set out below, we are deeply concerned about the likely impact of our proposal on our site and on the wider dairy industry, which is why we have now (March 2021) formally objected to planning permission being granted. Arla has consistently paid close attention to the various proposals brought forward by Hills to deal with waste due to the potential implications for our business. To put this in context, if it is built the new facility will be immediately next door to our dairy, which was established in 2002 and is the biggest manufacturing site for butter in the country. We receive raw milk direct from our farmer-owners and from other dairy companies and cream from sites owned by Arla and others. Each year we produce 60,000 tonne
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!”
