Climate change at heart of Council's plans for High Peak

Supporting local people by building more Council houses, increasing apprenticeships, creating thriving town centres and protecting the environment are at the heart of High Peak Borough Council's plans for the coming four years.

At the full Council meeting last night (Tuesday 15 October), councillors approved the Corporate Plan and pledged to work towards a carbon neutral High Peak by 2030 as they declared a climate emergency.

The Corporate Plan sets out how the Council will deliver its vision - 'Working together to protect and invest in the High Peak with the Council on your side' - focussing on four key themes:

·         Supporting our communities to create a healthier, safer, cleaner High Peak

·         A responsive, smart, financially resilient and forward thinking Council

·         Protecting and creating jobs by supporting economic growth, development and regeneration

·         Protecting and improving the environment including responding to the climate emergency

Underpinning the delivery of these themes are the administration's new co-operative values which will be further developed to define how the Council does things both as an organisation and an administration. These are based around:

·         Openness and honesty

·         Ownership

·         Fairness and respect

·         Involvement

Council Leader, Councillor Anthony Mckeown, said: "This Corporate Plan sets out a clear statement of our intentions for investing in, protecting and improving the High Peak over the coming four years.

"It is an ambitious programme that recognises the Council's broader role and the need to work in partnership to support local people, enable the development of the local economy and protect our environment whilst ensuring we are getting value for money for council tax payers.

"In setting these priorities we have had the people, communities and businesses of the Borough at the forefront of our plans and we look forward to getting on with delivering our vision and making sure the Council is on your side."

Responding to the declaration of a climate emergency, Executive Councillor Jean Todd, the Council's first Executive Member for Climate Change, said: "Climate change, and how we respond to it, is the key issue of our times and by declaring a climate emergency we have taken the first steps towards tackling it in High Peak.

"The scale of the task cannot be under-estimated but we are determined to work together to draw up an effective action plan aimed at achieving a carbon neutral Borough by 2030."