Melksham Town Council’s plan for a greener future

Built Environment: 

• Bring in development requirements and impose standards on new house builds, for example.   There should be a requirement for social housing to include electric charging points.  

• Provision should be made in terms of ducting when buildings are constructed.   Whilst we do not know that electric will be the final salvation, if ducting is there, the infrastructure is in place for future options. 

Transport:

• The consultation is bus based; it should include rail. Buses run on diesel fuel. Network rail are looking at electrification. We should be aiming to reach the Dutch level of electric rail which is now at 68% electric; the UK is only 42% electric.  Opening more lines and stations should be explored. 

•  Lobby Central Government to consider freight by train.  This will take diesel lorries off the road; would reduce carbon emissions and take the stress from our highways meaning less highway improvements would be necessary.

• A target to encourage more walking and cycling should be included in Wiltshire’s Climate Change Strategy with the provision of clearly defined cycling and pedestrian walkways accompanied by charging points for electric bikes.

• Wiltshire should be planning areas to host electric scooter schemes.  It is highly likely that the pilot currently underway will lead to new legislation permitting the use of managed scooter schemes.

• Reducing speed reduces carbon emissions.  A 20mph speed limit in built up urban areas should be implemented throughout Wiltshire.  20 is Plenty!

• Young people need to start thinking sustainably.  They should be encouraged (through schemes in conjunction with their schools) to walk and cycle to school.  In doing so they are being taught a lifelong habit.

Renewable Energy 

•  There should be goals/targets to achieve reductions in waste in the strategy and the emerging Local Plan should have a specific goal.  Wiltshire Council are the authority dealing with Wiltshire’s waste and measures to reduce waste should be the centre piece of your strategy.

• Wiltshire Recycling Centres should have more accessible opening hours or even better, to reduce car journeys to recycling centres implement more ambitious plans for doorstep recycling.

• Wiltshire should give serious consideration to food waste collection.

• Wiltshire should be encouraging and facilitating community composting.

• The policy of prohibiting users at Wiltshire’s recycling centres to take away recycling left by others should be stopped, rather encouraged.

• Measures should be in place to ensure that Wiltshire’s waste is managed in Wiltshire and not driven to other parts of the country.  It should be Wiltshire’s duty to manage Wiltshire’s waste.

• There should be higher standards of recycling and the adoption of a more flexible approach to what is ‘contaminated’ recycling, ways to deal with it should be explored. A ‘sort’ system on site would prevent ‘contaminated’ recycling from going into landfill. 

Natural Environment:

• The draft strategy is far too vague about restoring woodlands and habitats.  There should be quantifiable targets within the strategy with a separate ecological response for urban and rural areas.  For example, how do we create habitats for birds and the mammal population in urban areas.

• A target for rivers in Wiltshire should be set to include a natural wetland to either side of them where possible.  The benefits, it slows down the river and provides habitats.

The Town Council did acknowledge Wiltshire Council’s stock of electric pool cars and the policy of replacing their vehicles with electric ones and would like to congratulate Wiltshire Council on this initiative.