10/10/25: Councillors vote to reiterate commitment to sustainability

At the meeting of Full Council on October 9, Breckland Council members voted against a proposal to rescind its existing Climate Change Emergency Declaration, reiterating the district council's ongoing commitment to embedding environmental and sustainable activities in the work of the authority.

Breckland Council's Leader Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen described the original decision in 2019 as 'a sit up and think' moment. The 2019 Motion called upon the Council to develop its commitment and implementation of an over-arching and achievable sustainable Breckland strategy, which subsequently became known as Breckland 2035.

Cllr Helen Crane, Executive Member for Sustainability, commented: "Breckland 2035 is about making sure that sustainability is at the heart of everything we do and the declaration back in 2019 kick started this."

Speaking at the Council meeting, she said: "When we talk about climate change, it is not just about emissions. It is about improving the lives of our residents and helping our businesses. It means making sure people have warm, energy efficient homes, protecting communities from flooding and creating places that are healthier, safer and more resilient for the future. It is about getting our own house in order and setting an example to others and helping businesses if they have a desire to improve their own emission targets. This is all normal and sensible stuff!

"We had a budget in 2019 of 525K and, unsurprisingly from a council that is astute in its fiscal management ,we still have 300k left, whilst leveraging in 699k in grant funding from elsewhere to make energy efficiency improvements on our leisure centres. No gimmicks, no vanity projects, no virtue signalling, just good housekeeping and getting on with the job. Money has also been spent on community projects, including 2400 trees planted at Oxburgh Hall."

Cllr Crane said she was pleased the proposal to rescind the council's previous decision to declare a Climate Emergency in name had not been supported by the majority of members, with 30 votes against, 5 for, and 1 abstention.

"We continue with Breckland 2035 because it is what our residents want. The 2022 residents survey shows that 97% of our residents said it was either 'very important' or 'important' that we protect the environment and help tackle climate change," she added.

The survey of residents also found 87% agreed slightly or strongly that the council should support local communities to develop their own projects to reduce emissions and almost 9-in-10 (88%) said that the council should raise awareness of the impact of climate change, and the way residents and businesses can reduce their emissions.