Have your say on how we tackle climate change in our borough.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead want to hear your feedback on their draft Environment and Climate Strategy for the Royal Borough.

As part of our efforts to tackle climate change, we’ve committed to achieving a target of net-zero carbon emissions in the borough by 2050. The draft strategy sets out our plan to achieve this and it will drive the decisions and actions we take for the next five years, so we want to make sure it addresses the issues that are most important to you, our residents.

Tackling climate change involves everyone – it will take the combined efforts of business, industry, residents and community groups to make this a reality. So, we want to hear your views on the draft strategy and how you’d like to be involved in delivering it, so that together the Royal Borough can achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

View the draft Environment and Climate Strategy document.

View the event on our consultation portal: http://consult.rbwm.gov.uk/portal/cc/decs/decs.

Background

In June 2019, the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Council declared an environment and climate emergency. The issues driving this decision were, and remain, some of the most challenging ever faced by humanity, with our climate changing on a scale and pace that threatens our way of life and that of future generations.

We are now more aware than ever of the threat that climate change poses, and we are confident that if we take urgent and real action, we can turn back this tide.

Our vision is to be a Borough where the community collectively works together to achieve a sustainable future, protecting and enhancing our natural environment and achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Draft Environment and Climate Strategy

The draft strategy was created by a cross-party councillor working group, supported by officers and with input from key stakeholders in the community and various environmental groups, and was approved by the council for public consultation in June 2020.

The draft Environment and Climate strategy sets out the council’s vision and actions to achieve the borough’s net-zero-carbon-emissions target by 2050 and our five-year approach to working in partnership with local communities to tackle this challenge. It will drive the decisions, resources and actions we make across all our activities.

The Environment and Climate Strategy focuses on four key themes:

Circular economy: more sustainable resource use, increasing recycling rates and supporting less resource-intensive lifestyles
Energy: reducing consumption and decarbonising our supply of energy
Natural environment: support biodiversity, health and wellbeing
Transport: Reduce the need for carbon intensive travel by encouraging walking and cycling, as well as investing in digital infrastructure

Consultation

Tackling climate change involves everyone – it will take the combined efforts of business, industry, residents and community groups to deliver the action that is necessary to make this a reality.

We want to hear your views on the draft strategy, on our vision, the approach we’re proposing to take and the issues we’re focusing on. We also want to hear how you’d like to be involved in delivering the strategy, so that together the Royal Borough can achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

If we achieve what we set out to do, we can look forward to a borough that is a healthier, happier, more community-focused place to live, play and work, and is showing real leadership in tackling these major challenges.

The consultation is open from Wednesday 29 July until 6pm on Tuesday 29 September 2020.

View the draft Environment and Climate Strategy document.

If you are unable to access the online consultation portal, please email climate-change.consultation@rbwm.gov.uk and we will arrange for a hard copy to be made available. We would ask however that you only do this if necessary, to minimise our environmental impact.

How to give your feedback

Access our consultation portal at http://consult.rbwm.gov.uk/portal/cc/decs/decs and give your feedback
If viewing a hard copy of the strategy, a paper response form will also be made available. These need to be posted back to: Sustainability Team, The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 1RF.

Comments must be received no later than 6pm on Tuesday 29 September 2020.

All comments received will be considered as part of the process for preparing the final strategy document. We will be publishing a summary of all comments received on our website in due course as part of the consultation process.

Please note that responses must be attributable to named individuals or organisations. View our Privacy Notice – Consultations and Call for Sites.

Yours faithfully,

The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead