Shrewsbury Town Council held its first virtual Council meeting on Monday evening [May18] after new regulations were put in place to allow meetings to be held electronically.
The Council session, which saw a significant number of residents logging in to the live feed, heard about the work that has continued since lockdown closed many Council facilities.
Despite play areas, community centres and sporting facilities being shut, the majority of open spaces have remained open to the public for daily exercise, with green networks playing a great role in connecting communities.
The Council heard that despite the Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures, much work has been carried out to continue to meet the Council’s commitments to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Town Council staff have been working behind the scenes to understand the extent of the Council’s carbon footprint, construct new footpaths, explore measures to change the council’s fleet to electronic alternatives, press forward with greater tree planting and developing better arrangements to procure goods and services with better environmental credentials.
Recently the Town Council announced it had created a £250,000 fund to press ahead with its carbon neutral plans and was committed to developing a comprehensive action plan with detailed projects.
The Council was keen to involve experts in the field and at Monday night’s meeting Council agreed proposals to establish a Climate Emergency Advisory Group to help shape plans and monitor performance.
Councillor Alan Mosley, leader of the Town Council, said: “We have been at the forefront of local councils in declaring a Climate Emergency and in reviewing all our operations to reduce Carbon emissions.
“We have a wealth of expertise and experience in Shrewsbury to advise us in moving forward. So, we are calling on key stakeholders to nominate people to join a strong advisory group to help ensure we set appropriate targets, help us to achieve them as quickly as possible and monitor our performance in doing so.
“We hope that groups such as Friends of the Earth, Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Extinction Rebellion, Young Shrewsbury and the Civic Society will join with members and officers of the Town Council to advise and support us in achieving the best possible outcomes and establishing best practice.”
The Council will shortly send invitations to interested groups and will be arranging a virtual meeting to develop plans further.
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