Herefordshire Council has agreed to spend £1.6 million on sustainability measures in the county.

This includes £700,000 for measures backed by its one-off climate change assembly, made up of randomly selected members of the public, which was held at the start of this year.

Comprising just the first “tranche” of spending from the council’s dedicated climate reserve, the £706,807 will be spent on:

  • promoting increased walking in the county (£45,000);
  • looking into electrifying school buses (£55,000), and also taxis (£18,150);
  • installing 40 on-street vehicle charging points (£82,500);
  • preparing an annual “greener footprints” conference (£27,225);
  • carrying out “farm carbon audits” on 30 farms in the county (£113,762);
  • commissioning energy audits and carbon management plans for organisations in the council’s 30 for 2030 scheme (£49,500);
  • commissioning work on how climate change will impact Herefordshire (£55,000);
  • creating a live map of Herefordshire’s renewable energy potential (£11,000).

Most of these will start in the new year and be put in place over the next three years. Six more projects are still in development and have to be bought forward for approval.

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Alongside this, the council will spend £592,900 from its reserves on a programme to “retrofit” buildings for greater energy efficiency.

This will include carrying out means-tested efficiency audits and retrofitting plans for 320 homes , as well as grants of up to £2,000 to implement improvements identified; developing decarbonisation plans for all council offices (worth £86,000); and helping to develop a local retrofitting supply chain through skills training (£151,000).

A further £310,000 will support the council’s school travel plans, which aim to promote alternatives to private cars on school runs, with a full-time officer to implement them.