Great Success at Wednesday’s District Council Meeting. Councillor Darren Price (Leek East) reports below.
CLIMATE CHANGE EMERGENCY IN THE MOORLANDS
I am very proud to report that last night the Labour Party’s motion declaring a climate change emergency was passed unanimously! It was great to hear so many impassioned contributions from across the Council chamber, and fantastic that that public gallery was full, predominantly with members of the Staffs Moorlands Climate Action Community who had been so instrumental in bridng the motion forward.
So, what now? The fact that the importance of the issue has been recognised is an important first step but the work begins here. With things like this the devil is not only in the detail it’s also in the delivery. The setting up of a working group to take this forward is great but how this is constituted, who sits on it and who chairs and sets the agenda is key.
It was genuinely wonderful to have the full support of the Tories and their Independent backers, but this is about actions and not just words. We should remember that just two weeks ago the Council refused an eco co-housing application on a brownfield site. Now I know that planning is not a political process (at least it shouldn’t be) but it was members of the leading group who voted against, make of that what you will.
I was also in the chamber a couple of years ago when Cllr Ralphs said unequivocally stated that there would be no new wind turbines in the Moorlands on her watch. Incidentally this is not a claim that she had any right to make but make it she did. Either this lady is for turning and there has been a long overdue change of mind, or the new commitment to tackling climate change is nowt but a politically convenient green veneer. I really hope that it is the former but we will be doing what we can to steer this in the right direction and making sure that we deliver real change for the future.