MAKING OUR TOWNS & CITY THE MOST
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY IN THE UK
1. Labour will explore the viability of creating a
Cheshire West Solar Farm, generating clean
and green electricity to sell back to the grid
so residents can enjoy the financial returns
being invested in quality local services and will
support all low carbon, clean energy and local
energy solutions, including local Heat exchange
Networks; Geothermal; Hydrogen and Carbon
Capture and Smart Energy Systems.
2. We aspire to create a new energy company so
residents in Cheshire West and Chester can
benefit from fairer tariffs, and feel confident
about reducing their carbon footprint with gas
and electricity in their homes and businesses
coming from greener sources.
3. By working with residents, businesses and
community groups, our ambition is for our
borough’s towns and city to be among the most
sustainable in the UK. To support this, we will
commit to:
- Local businesses being supported by a
new sustainability and carbon reduction
bespoke advice service.
- Introducing a Lane Rental Levy on utility
companies in relation to roadworks. This
will incentivise them to work in a timely
and efficient manner and avoid the costly
and disruptive impacts on residents and
businesses when road works overrun.
- We will continue to support a boroughwide
effort to reduce plastics by focusing on
supporting businesses, residents and
communities with an emphasis on ‘reduce,
reuse, recycle’. This will be a central ethos
of the Council’s new waste service from
April 2020.
- Rolling out Electric Vehicle Charging points
and introducing a planning policy to
encourage new developments to include
EV charging points.
- To address public health issues, we will
explore the implementation of clean air
zones and other initiatives in parts of the
borough where air quality is an issue (Air
Quality 20/21). In addition, we will reduce
emissions by completing the roll out of
20mph zones on all residential roads.
4. Working with communities, we will develop a
range of wildlife and biodiversity policies that
give greater protection to life in our borough,
including:
- The role out of a four-year badger
vaccination programme.
- Building on recent success in Chester and
Ellesmere Port, expanding boroughwide ‘In
Bloom’ projects.
- Developing a policy to encourage the
growth of wildflower meadows to support
biodiversity, especially the bee population.
- Supporting Chester Zoo’s sustainable palm
oil campaign, working towards becoming
the first Sustainable Palm Oil Borough.
- Continuing to work with our partners to
support clean up initiatives, such as the
Big Dee Day, to protect and enhance our
natural waterways.
- Working with our partners to deliver a
viable and sustainable solution which
recognises and celebrates the uniqueness
and natural beauty of the Sandstone Ridge.
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5. No animal should be made to suffer
unnecessary pain and degradation. We will
continue to drive up standards and increase
our advice and interaction with other animal
related businesses. Building on our previous
achievements, such as the banning of wild
animals in circuses on council land, we will
work towards achieving a gold standard on all
of our animal welfare policies, including:
- The prohibition of badger culling on
council land and support for vaccination
programmes.
- Continuing the RSPCA Gold Paw Prints
Award in relation to stray dogs.
- Introducing a Quality Mark for animal
welfare.
- Working with partners to increase control
of hunting events, enhance community
safety and maintain the highest standards
of animal welfare.
- Pursuing prosecution in cases that
concern the neglect of animals both
domestic and wild and work with our
partners to achieve this.
6. We recognise the continuing and legitimate
safety concerns around fracking in our
borough. Cheshire West Labour will
endeavour to make sure residents’ concerns
are addressed and work to represent our
residents fully within the current legislative
constraints. Nationally, Labour is opposed to
fracking and a future Labour government will
ban it.
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DEVELOPING THE BEST MUNICIPAL
WASTE AND RECYCLING SERVICE IN THE
COUNTRY
7. Labour will transform the waste service in
our borough by bringing it back under council
control, with five priorities:
- The new waste collection service must
lead the way for other councils, being
brought back under the council’s
operational control but run as a municipal
service, rooted in communities, and based
on co-operative principles.
- The waste collection service must
continue to maintain the high standards
our residents expect.
- The workforce will continue to be valued
for the skills, experience and insight they
bring to the service.
- The new service will be innovative in
meeting the environmental and legislative
challenges we face locally and globally,
so it can be flexible and responsive in the
future.
- The new service will include a mechanism
for residents to influence the future
direction and priorities of the service.
8. To support residents, small businesses and
sole traders, we will expand our award winning
recycling centres by:
Dealing with trade waste in a simpler and
more cost effective manner.
Increasing upcycling of household
appliances, furniture, tools and other
items in our recycling centre shops.
Creating a municipal recycling service
to fix broken items and return them to
use. This will provide a cost effective
alternative for families to avoid long term,
high interest loans for these sorts of
goods.
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FUNDING A NEW RAPID RESPONSE TEAM
TO KEEP YOUR STREETS EVEN CLEANER
9. Fly-tipping is disgraceful and shows a blatant
disrespect for local communities. Mobile CCTV
units will be used to catch culprits, and new
powers invoked to prosecute them with the
maximum possible penalty.
10. Labour’s ambition is to have the cleanest,
safest and most sustainable neighbourhoods
in the country. In order to deliver on this
promise:
- We will fund a new reactive Streetcare
service, known as SMART (Street
Maintenance Action Response Team), that
can respond quicker to issues reported
by local people. We will introduce ASSIST
officers, who will help coordinate reactive
teams in the locales.
- We will continue to empower communities
by delegating authority for enforcement
of dog fouling to town and parish councils,
where they wish to do so, building on the
new PSPO for dog control orders.
- We will deliver the second phase of our
Streetcare pledge, allowing communities
to apply for specific funding to finance
projects that will improve the area where
they live.
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