Pursuing practical solutions to climate change in South West Devon

climate change

There's no denying the impact climate change is having on our world.

In the run up to the December 2019 election (seems a lifetime ago) I made promises about investing more effort into supporting actions in this constituency that help protect our environment. It is fair to say that Covid 19 has steamrollered that well-intentioned locomotive firmly into the sidings, but now that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it is time to fire her up and get going in earnest.

Tell me what you think and what's important to you

My team and I met recently to thrash out the broad outlines of the bite-sized chunks that I have in mind to make South West Devon constituency a greener, better place. We plan to work up these ideas and then have a launch in May or June (avoiding any local elections) when we should be enjoying most of our freedoms again.

It seemed sensible to publish the outline of our thoughts to draw upon the wisdom of the wider community. I have met with a number of environmental groups during the past twelve months and visited several local green energy projects and they have helped shaped my plans.

We intend a five-point plan for this area as follows

  1. To assist in the fresh generation of green energy locally, both micro and macro. I am aware of at least two major schemes behind the scenes that would give us a real boost if they become reality.
  2. To see a significant increase in the number of charging points for green vehicles in this constituency.
  3. To gather landowners and farmers (including hill farmers) together to share best practice of sustainable land management. With the advent of a new post Brexit way of supporting farmers we have the opportunity to develop innovative ideas to preserve and improve our environment.
  4. To significantly upgrade and improve the discreet cycle lanes in this area for both commuting and leisure use. My recent terrifying experiences as a new cyclist will guide me on this!
  5. To lobby at Westminster for changes in law and regulation on common sense issues such as new properties needing to incorporate solar panels in their design.

I would welcome any sensible input (not the kind of nasty political stuff that is often posted (which we point blank ignore)) and we will readily consider it.

Please feel free to complete the short survey below - we are keen to hear what you think we should be doing in South West Devon to make a difference to our environment as we seek to tackle climate change together.

I cannot solve every problem and of course all of the other work must continue at the same time. But I would like to be able to look back and say that I made a small green difference to this wonderful part of the world.

Climate Change Survey

  • Climate Change Survey - Have your Say
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News

PMQ on off-shore wind

Today I had a question at Prime Minister's Questions. 

I took the opportunity to seek his support for a significant off-shore wind project in the Celtic Sea which will have positive implications for the far South West and also to the country's push to tackle climate change.

On the right green track

I am glad that governments can do more than one thing at a time. It would be deeply depressing if all we were acting upon was Covid 19 and Brexit.  In fact, a number of positive issues are being taken forward underneath the noise and drama of those two dominating issues.

To be a vegan?

As I made clear in my election material, my two priorities for this Parliament are improving access to GP services for this constituency and taking effective action on climate change. I will be writing about primary care next week.