Kirklees Council pledges to be carbon neutral by 2038

There was broad support for an action plan suggested by the cross-party Climate Emergency Working Party, which was established after the authority declared a district-wide climate emergency in January.

But there was dissent from opposition groups, notably the Greens whose group leader Cllr Andrew Cooper refused to back the report.

Cllr Cooper reiterated his stance that the council should not be backing the expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport and said £100m of funding allocated to the site could be better spent elsewhere.

“We need to have a shift of emphasis,” he said. “We are spending money on the wrong things.”

The plan includes proposals to increase the council’s electric vehicle fleet and to encourage the use of electric and low-emission vehicles.

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There will be free parking in council car parks across the borough for hybrid and electric vehicles.

The council also intends to establish a Kirklees Climate Commission and Kirklees Green Charter and to hold a Kirklees Youth Summit on climate change.

Reacting to the plan Council Leader Cllr Shabir Pandor said he was “really proud” and that it would be” a top priority” when the authority sets its budget for the next financial year.

He added: “This is much bigger than politics. It’s the most important issue of our time and the right way forward for Kirklees is for us all to work together.”

But there was further concern from green campaigners. Chris Herring of Kirklees Climate Emergency Group urged the council to “step up” its ambition and “to show true leadership”.

He said: “The level of aspiration in this report on building energy efficiency is well behind what some local authorities are already doing, right now.

“This report puts Kirklees well behind what other local authorities are already doing.

“Much more important than this, it is simply not commensurate with the nature of the crisis we now face.”

Introducing the CEWP’s report – known formally as Kirklees Climate Emergency Declaration and the Kirklees Air Quality Strategy and Five-Year Air Quality Action Plan – Clr Naheed Mather commented bluntly: “We cannot continue with business as usual.”

And Clr Richard Murgatroyd, who chaired the CEWP, described the report as “a real step change” and “a serious piece of public policy-making”.

He said: “Members should be in no doubt: turning away from a carbon-based economy will be an incredibly challenging endeavour on a scale and at a pace that no human society has ever done before.”

He said it was crucial to build in robust reporting and monitoring mechanisms with targets that can be met and communicated to the public.

And he acknowledged the controversial nature of the large-scale airport expansion – a 77% jump in passenger numbers from four million to 7.1 million by 2030 – which would “fly a jumbo jet through our targets”.

Liberal Democrats said the proposals, while worthy, were not radical and did not go far enough. They said the report lacked action and timescales.

Clr Anthony Smith said: “This report does not scream ’emergency’ and we need to address that.”

Lib Dem group leader Clr John Lawson said the CEWP report had “bundled together” different issues that meant the emergency itself was being “diluted”.

Tories who were criticised for non-involvement in the working group said they considered the report to be a Cabinet responsibility that could avoided the ten months it took to create a report.

Conservative group leader Clr David Hall said members were being asked to receive the decision of the Cabinet and to note it.

The council’s response to the climate emergency has been praised by an academic at the University of Huddersfield.

Sustainability and consumer culture expert Dr Brendan Canavan said the report was “ambitious and thorough”.

He added: “Kirklees Council should be applauded for taking action on climate change.  Indeed, they are taking more of an initiative than many national political bodies.”