In 2020, Shipley Town Council declared a Climate Emergency. As a result, we set up a dedicated Climate Emergency & Environment Committee to help us to put policies in place and to develop projects that help us work towards our ambition to be a local leader on tackling climate change and protecting our environment.
Through the work of the committee, we are supporting and developing initiatives that will help the council and our local community to reduce its carbon emissions, increase biodiversity and reduce air pollution.
Examples of our achievements to date are: paying for street trees in Shipley; supporting the establishment of an active travel hub to encourage and support more cycling and walking; supporting Shipley in Bloom to green our community; and ensuring that our newly reopened public toilets in Saltaire have electricity from a renewable provider.
The Committee is keen to engage the Shipley community and to hear their views. To help us do this, we held ‘Community Assemblies on Climate’, to listen and engage with residents to help us better understand how we can further develop climate and environmental action in Shipley. We then held a ‘Citizens Jury’ on climate involving the local community in developing our response to the climate crisis. This is contained in our Climate Action Plan. ‘Green Grants’ are now being made available to individuals and groups who have ideas for further the actions it contains.
The Chair of the Committee is Councillor Pedi Obani
The Vice Chair of the Committee is Councillor Anna Watson
The other committee members are Councillors Mike Farren and Colin Longden.
