Council Tackles Food and Energy Security

Local environmentalists have responded positively to the City Council's new Climate Change and Security Framework which sets out its plans for reducing carbon emissions over the next ten years.

The document also sees Bristol as one of the first cities in the country to officially embrace the Peak Oil agenda.

The Framework includes 20 strategies that the Council will follow and a further 40 specific actions that will be taken over the coming 12 months.

These include:

    - A commitment to insulate 3000 homes in both the private and public sectors.

    - Developing a Bristol Local Food Plan and a related Council Food Charter

    - Increasing sustainable energy and waste businesses in Avonmouth

    - Opening the Create Centre on Saturdays from Easter

    - Working with Connecting Bristol to improve the City's wi-fi infrastructure to allow more home working and less travel to access Council services

    - Adding four extra biomass boilers to council-owned buildings and reducing emissions from Council buildings (including schools) by 40% by 2020

Local environmentalist and member of Sustainable Redland Hamish Wills welcomes the Council's strategy: "I think it's quite a step for a Council to make such statements about food security and sustainability. It's good too that it did so from a knowledge base based on research work."

Cotham Councillor Neil Harrison says that "Council officers need a big pat on the back for getting something so impressive and wide-ranging together so quickly."

The Framework follows on from the publication in 2009 of the Bristol Partnership's report, Building a Positive Future for Bristol After Peak Oil, which highlights the links between energy reduction, economics and food production. "Food security and sustainability go hand in hand" says Wills, founding member of Sustainable Redland, whose activities have included the creation of the Whiteladies Road farmers' market.

Mr Wills adds that it is now the responsibility of local people to work with the council in making sure that the strategies are implemented in specific ways. "I think they've set themselves a framework, and if targets and strategies don't emerge, it's up to us to expect them to explain why not. If we fail to do so, who's apathetic?"