CARBON saving actions may have to be stepped up if BCP Council is to achieve its target in eight years.

The council is reporting 11 per cent savings in carbon emissions in a year – but opposition councillor Andy Hadley says that considering most offices were closed because of the pandemic a three per cent saving on gas was smaller than might be expected.

He told Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting that given 20 years of inaction the council might need to step up the pace if it is to stand a chance of achieving the zero target by 2030.

He and sustainability portfolio holder Cllr Mike Greene clashed over the Cabinet member’s claim that the previous administration had cancelled the council’s entire climate change budget.

Cllr Hadley warned Cllr Greene to stop repeating what he described as the “untruth” of the claim – point out that spending on the item had simply been deferred to concentrate on tackling the pandemic. He said he thought the council had learnt that the issue of climate change was bigger than party politics.

Cllr Greene told Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting that the Conservative administration had not only re-instated the climate change budget but had doubled it and had pledged to provide a team of eleven staff to work on the issue, led by Dr Matt Montgomery who had recently joined the council after working in Auckland, New Zealand.

He said that with carbon reduction work already underway the council could give itself a pat on the back for the progress it was making. He said he believed that the savings already reported were likely to be larger than the figures suggested because some work carried out on council buildings had not been included.

He said the administration was committed to being a zero emission council by 2030 with a similar target for the council area by 2050.

“We now have a more robust plan and are concentrating more on carbon in a focused and structured way,” said Cllr Greene, who said five councillor-led groups had now been set up to work on the main areas of the council climate strategy.