The Environment Partnership Theme Groups
Pride in County Durham
County Durham residents generally love where they live, but hate to see litter, fly tipping, dog fouling, vandalism, pollution and other forms of antisocial behaviour that degrade the quality of neighbourhoods. The Pride group aims to harness the spirit and drive of residents, community groups, schools, businesses and public bodies to deliver a cleaner and greener County Durham.
What we will do:
The group will focus its activities across four key areas:
- education
- community involvement
- enforcement
- ensuring high standards of public service
Climate Change in County Durham
The group will provise strategic leadership to the County Council and our partners within the development of policies to mitigate man-made contributions to climate change and adapt to its effects, to maximise affordable warmth for all and to grasp the opportunities for a low carbon economy in County Durham.
What we will do:
- enable County Durham to achieve the UK Target of 80% CO2 reduction by 2050
- stimulate a low carbon economy and create new green jobs
- tackle fuel poverty
- help communities understand and adapt to the consequences of climate change
Waste in County Durham
We are generating more waste than we have ever done.
This results in the consumption of natural resources and the pollution of our environment with plastic, organic waste and through the release of greenhouse gasses.
Although recycling rates continue to increase, we still send most of our waste to landfill.
What we will do:
- reduce the waste we generate;
- encourage recycling;
- explore ways of replacing land-filling with more environmentally sensitive treatment options;
Natural Environment in County Durham
The natural environment of County Durham is one of its key assets. Across the county, from the upland areas of the west to the coastal cliffs of the east, there are large expanses of locally, nationally and internationally designated habitats that support a wide range of wildlife and provide a valuable and essential resource for all. Our natural environment needs protection, but we must also realise its potential in terms of economic growth, tourism and the health and wellbeing of our communities.
What we will do:
- enable increased and informed access to nature
- balance the needs of ecosystems with other land uses such as farming, residential and industrial development, transport and mineral extraction
- support reduced reliance on finite natural resources and increased exploitation of renewable resources
- promote our natural environment as a tourist destination;
- ensure ecosystems are resilient to climate change;
Built Environment in County Durham
Our built environment is the place where most people live and work, and the quality of the built environment has the most direct effect on the quality of our lives. It needs to provide the things that keep us satisfied, healthy and happy. We need to develop our built environment to conserve its historic value and character, through using sustainable building materials, to high standards of energy efficiency with no impact to the natural environment.
What we will do:
- promote new development that adds to the character of existing buildings and settlements whilst ensuring adherence to high environmental standards
- ensure provision of high quality open spaces within settlements
- enhance existing buildings to improve their energy efficiency.