A NEW roadmap commissioned by the council has shown the range of measures needed for Winchester to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Winchester City Council’s carbon neutral plan includes interventions to reduce carbon emissions across housing, commercial and transport.

The roadmap was created during a decision day on Monday, January 16 and highlights the need to increase the efficiency of measures with greater cooperation with partner organisations to achieve the 2030 target.

The plan was developed through workshops with stakeholders such as Winchester Action on Climate Crisis (WinACC), in-depth interviews with Hampshire County Council officers and Wessex Green Hub and a session with groups such as Cycle Winchester, Friends of the Earth, Sustrans, Hampshire & IoW Wildlife Trust and Winchester BID.

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Sixteen interventions have been outlined covering domestic, commercial, industrial, transport, land use and waste, which include low-traffic neighbourhoods, an increase in solar panels and energy efficiency schemes for tenants.

The proposal, although supported by climate action groups such as WinACC and Winchester Climate Assembly, received criticism from conservative environment spokesperson and city councillor, Neil Bolton.

Cllr Bolton questioned when the roadmap would materialise into action and highlighted that the evidence didn’t consider the likely rise in costs of carbon credits.

He said: “It’s taken a long time to get to this stage given the pressing timelines since declaring the 2030 Net Zero target across the district back in 2019.

“It is a commendable goal to reach Carbon neutrality before 2050 but the 2030 target could rapidly become a vanity project that has an offset price tag that is unachievable and totally unaffordable requiring the justification of pouring hundreds of millions out of the district and county.

“Rather than spending on carbon credits this money should be focussed more on domestic interventions that would bring the greatest long-term savings to residents while accelerating a strategy to achieve carbon neutrality.”

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Cabinet member for the climate emergency, Cllr Kelsie Learney, said: “We have been proactive since our climate emergency was announced and have made good strides in implementing measures that will reduce the carbon footprint of the district. However, we needed further evidence to tell us if what we are doing will reach our target.

“We must act faster, not only with what we are able to do as a district council, but also working with partners – it is very clear a collaborative approach is needed to achieve a carbon neutral district, but we must strive forward and show leadership.”

The council is preparing to seek funding for the measures which have the greatest potential to reduce emissions and decide who is suited to deliver the interventions.

To view the report and roadmap go to democracy.winchester.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=412&MId=4178