Wyre Forest District Council
Climate Action and Carbon Reduction Plan 2024 - 2027
What we are doing
The following section details actions the council is currently taking to help reduce the carbon footprint of the Wyre Forest district and mitigate against climate change. Where investment is required, these projects will be subject to a business case.
Renewable energy and energy efficiency
Swimming Pool Support Fund
Wyre Forest District Council has submitted a formal bid of £60,000 under Phase 2 of the Swimming Pool Support Fund for the 25m pool at Wyre Forest Leisure Centre in Kidderminster. Under this, the council has applied for two capital items:
- The first item the council has applied for is a pool water waste recovery system to reduce the amount of energy required to heat replacement cold water following backwashing.
- The second item the council has applied for is a cover for the main pool (25m x 13m) to reduce heat loss and evaporation of water overnight. The cover will also allow pool water heating to be reduced overnight and speed pumps to be reduced to the optimum levels.
District Heat Networks
Part 16.28 of the Local Plan (2016-2036) stipulates that “The Worcestershire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) obtained HNDU (Heat Network Delivery Unit) funding and commissioned a heat demand mapping and energy master-planning study.
In addition, the Local Plan also goes on to state that “New large scale development should install a decentralised energy and heating network if it is feasible and viable to do so as part of the development. If a district heat network already exists new development should connect to this network unless satisfactory evidence is provided to demonstrate that this is not viable or feasible.”
Electric vehicles (EVs)
According to Zap Map, there are just 37 public EV charging points across the district on privately owned land, such as retail businesses, which equates to one publicly available charger for every 2,757 residents. This is why policy SP.37 (Renewable and Low Carbon Energy) of the Local Plan states that: “All new residential, employment or commercial developments should include electric vehicle charging points.” To evidence this, the council is currently in the process of procuring electric vehicle charging points for up to 22 car parks in the district via the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Solutions (VCIS). The tender for this went out in October 2023 and is currently receiving bids. A chosen supplier is expected to be named in the new year. As for on-street vehicle charging, this is beyond the scope of Wyre Forest District Council as in a two-tier authority structure highways are managed by the upper-tier authority, in this case Worcestershire County Council.
Taxi and private hire fleet
The Council’s Licensing and Environmental Committee is in the process of reviewing a consultation that would prevent additional fossil fuel powered vehicles from joining the taxi and private hire fleet of Wyre Forest district.
Retrofitting of existing fleet using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil
Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is a form of low-carbon biofuel that is derived solely from vegetable oils. It can be produced from common crops such as rapeseed and soybean, and thus qualifies as a both a renewable and carbon neutral fuel source. The hydrotreatment aspect ensures higher levels of purity. Although by no means emission free, HVO has the potential to drastically reduce the carbon emissions associated with Wyre Forest District Council’s fleet. HVO is not emissions free, but it is carbon neutral. The council is currently looking into retrofitting its existing fleet for the consumption of HVO as its primary fuel type, with a view to becoming 100% HVO. It is important to stress that HVO is very much a steppingstone interim measure that will be in effect whilst Wyre Forest District council is in the process of electrifying its fleet (the council has already purchased an Electric Vehicle).
Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels
The council is exploring opportunities to generate electricity from solar panels on council owned buildings (including the depot and the hub located at Green Street, and car park canopies) subject to a business case and grid capacity. This feasibility work is due to conclude in 2024.
Solar farms
The Council is developing plans for a solar farm on council owned land. Currently, there is no grid capacity in the proposed area. Therefore, the council is pursuing a connection by private wire. It is anticipated that if this is successful a business case will be brought forward in 2024.
Water source heat pumps
The council is currently collaborating with Transition Bewdley in the development of a Community Energy Fund (CEF) bid for a water source heat pump on the River Severn at Bewdley. The council will also seek to provide practical support (such as the provision of office/meeting space) for the bid.
Wyre Forest Wild
Wyre Forest District Council owns over 1000 acres of land, much of which is constituted by the 15 nature reserves and 8 parks under the council’s ownership. Wyre Forest Wild seeks to position the council as bio-custodians of this land for generations by securing a green future for it. This shall be achieved through the establishment of three key revenue streams: Increasing visitor numbers and ecotourism (for example, by improving active travel corridors between the reserves), the sale of biodiversity units to developers to help them achieve minimum 10% mandatory BNG (which comes into force in January 2024 for large developments), and the sale of carbon credits/ biodiversity units to companies hoping to offset some or all of their emissions. It is important to note that any carbon credits/biodiversity units that all sold shall be removed from the council’s sequestration inventory to avoid the risk of ‘double counting’ sequestration capacity.
Wyre Forest Green Alliance
Wyre Forest District Council is an active member of the Wyre Forest Green Alliance (WFGA), a union of approximately 50 different member organisations, all of which are sustainability-oriented and are situated in the district. A full list of the member organisations can be found on the Alliance’s website, available at http://www.wfgall.org.uk/members.html. WFGA run a number of sustainability themed events throughout the year, most notably during “SustFest”, a two-week annual festival with a huge range of sustainability-themed activities and events occurring in springtime every year. Furthermore, the WFGA also run an annual “Greener Christmas Fair” every November. This is a great opportunity to showcase innovative and sustainable ways of negotiating the festive season – a time of year typically associated with high levels of non-recyclable waste and the consumption of large amounts of carbon-intensive animal products.
The Transition Town Movement repair cafés
The council assists in the publicisation of Transition Bewdley and Repair Café events. The transition town movement is an international movement that manifests itself on a truly local scale. A core aim of the movement is to encourage circular economy principles within a particular town or urban agglomeration. This is achieved in a number of different ways, one of which is by improving the provision of locally sourced food (such as through allotments, community orchards and even guerrilla planting). Another method through which the drive to circularity is achieved is through waste reduction schemes that encourage the repair and reuse, and upcycling of objects that would otherwise be discarded and likely sent to landfill. An example of this in action is through repair cafés. These are regular meetings whereby any member of the public can bring in broken objects and get them repaired for free, thereby increasing the lifespan of the object and reducing the frequency with which new replacements are bought (thus reducing the embedded whole life cycle carbon emissions associated with the manufacture, transportation and eventual disposal of a given product). There are two monthly repair cafés operating in the Wyre Forest district: one in Bewdley and one in Kidderminster. They are run by Transition Bewdley and Transition Kidderminster respectively. For more information, please refer to the waste reduction section of the council website.