Declare a climate emergency, North Northamptonshire Council urged

North Northamptonshire Council must declare a climate emergency and put climate change at the centre of its decisions, a group of councillors will argue next week.

The Green Alliance - made up of three Green Clover Hill (Kettering) councillors and Independent Cllr Jim Hakewill - will propose that the new authority continue decisions made by former borough councils and the now-defunct county council to declare one in 2019.

They want the Conservative-led council to take the risk to present and future generations posed by changes in our global climate seriously and pledge to maintain continuity to reach a net zero carbon target by 2030.

Cllr Sarah Tubbs, who is proposing the motion, said: “I put this motion forward to ensure that we keep to the same deadline as set by previous councils and don’t get off track.

"2030 is the date we’ve set before, and it’s one we need to keep to.

"We aim, by re-declaring a climate emergency as a new unitary council, we can once more commit to this as a priority and keep it on the agenda.”

The motion will be discussed at the full council meeting on Wednesday, July 28, which will be held at the Corby Cube.

The group hope to ensure that the climate change strategy, drafted by the shadow authority before May's elections, will be actioned by the council.

Fellow Green Cllr Emily Fedorowycz, who was recently nominated as the ‘climate champion’ for Kettering Town Council, will be seconding the motion.

Cllr Fedorowycz said: “Declaring a climate emergency as a new unitary authority is a really important step for us as a council to show that we’re committed to the same standards we were before.

"Agreeing our support for the cause, and pledging to act on the climate change strategy outlined by the previous shadow authority means we can hopefully get these actions in the pipeline quicker.”

And Green Cllr Dez Dell said: "We really need to continue making progress to address north Northamptonshire's impact on the climate.

"We are optimistic that this unitary council will declare a climate emergency in line with previous councils."

Cllr Hakewill added: “I am delighted to be supporting our Green Alliance’s motion to seek the support of north Northamptonshire councillors to declare a climate emergency.

"There is no doubt that climate change is now an obvious crisis which needs everyone, working together, to minimise the negative impact of changing weather patterns on people’s lives."

A climate emergency was declared by the former Kettering Borough Council at a passionate meeting in 2019.

Last night (Wednesday), however, the new Kettering Town Council voted against a Green motion to declare an ecological emergency.