Going for Gold - next steps

Action on the environment

We think Cambridge should be in the lead on environmental issues. Every individual can and should contribute to the protection and enhancement of the environment, and the Council can support and guide these activities. It must look to its own corporate environmental performance too.

What we've done so far

Under the Liberal Democrats the Council is committed to ensuring that "concern for the environment actively influences our thinking practices and working practices". We are reshaping the way the Council thinks about its services and looking for new ways to take care of the environment.

We have produced the Council's first Environment Plan aimed at stretching our environmental performance and monitoring the results.

These are some of the most important initiatives of the last two years:

• new door to door Black Box recycling scheme now covering 2/3 of the city, taking the city's recycling rate from 9% to over 16% in the last two years
  
  
• improvements to the Green Bin recycling scheme to avoid contamination of the material 
  
  
• development of waste minimisation strategy to reduce the city's above average annual growth in domestic waste production 
  
  
• production with other Councils of a joint plan to deal with waste in a responsible way over the longer term
  
  
• major new Environmental Improvements programme to carry out schemes requested by local people across the city 
  
  
• more money and extra staff to work on the protection and new planting of trees
  
  
• improved management scheme for local nature reserves and additional funding
  
  
• developing role of Environmental Resources Centre in Guildhall and full programme of environmental events and activities through the year
  
  
• environmental education programme in schools
  
  
• progress in 'greening' the large fleet of service vehicles operated by the Council, including reducing mileage travelled by changed working practices
  
  
• production of Air Quality Management strategy and improved monitoring arrangements
  
  
• increased grants to environmental organisations
  
  
• budget for promotion of sustainable development and renewable energy production
  
  
• continued focus on domestic energy conservation
  
  
• restoration of 24 hour noise abatement service to counter noise pollution

Next Steps

In addition to continuing the above programmes, we will

• complete the dry recycling scheme in the remainder of the city to make sure that we continue to raise the recycling rate

• plan for the next major recycling initiative, likely to be extension of Green Bin scheme, to raise the recycling rate towards our target of 28% by the end of 2003/4
  
  
• work towards offering cardboard recycling scheme
  
  
• develop new initiatives on waste minimisation, following the successful introduction of the 'save a bag' scheme in the city centre
  
  
• use new opportunities to control air pollution by tackling the problem of vehicles standing stationary with their engines running
  
  
• work towards construction of a wind turbine project within the city boundary
  
  
• give further support for small and large scale solar energy installations
  
  
• work towards the development of a housing sustainability demonstration project open to the public
  
  
• introduce sustainable development planning guidance to influence the quality of new developments 
  
  
• improve the Council's corporate performance on energy conservation, recycling and waste minimisation
  
  
• work more effectively to detect and remedy contaminated land

In addition  we will continue to lobby the government relentlessly over its inadequate response to the need to protect and enhance the environment. We will demand action over renewable energy and  energy conservation. We will demand proper investment in recycling to bring this country towards the standards achieved in other European countries.  We will demand that a regulatory framework is provided that encourages waste minimisation in industry and commerce, for example discouraging the production of wasteful packaging and consumer goods with built-in obsolescence.