Bath and North East Somerset Council is continuing to invest in tackling the climate and nature emergency - and has pledged to support projects in the Somer and Chew valleys.

A report agreed by the full council in February as part of the authority’s budget saw £5.43million of investment approved over the next five years in capital schemes.

It will support renewable energy schemes, active travel, and nature recovery projects, including Somer Valley Rediscovered, Chew Valley Nature Trail, Bath River Line, Waterspace Connected and Bathscape, that will improve access to local nature for residents - in line with the council’s ecological emergency action plan.

In addition, a further £39.31million of schemes are in the pipeline, including additional renewable energy projects, more woodland cover and tree planting and the Entry Hill ecology centre.

Capital schemes across the council that will help to tackle the climate and ecological emergency include Somer Valley Links, the Bath City Centre Sustainable Transport Corridor and Bath Sustainable Walking and Cycling Links, which will improve strategic walking, wheeling and cycling connections across region.

The council has allocated £4 million for a programme to decarbonise its corporate estate, which will act as match funding for further grants and investment to remove gas as a heating fuel.

This will help to meet the council’s net zero goal by 2030 and achieve its target of 12 megawatts installed renewable capacity on the corporate estate.

The council’s net zero policy will also be supported by the decarbonisation of their fleet of vehicles.

The vehicles currently in use account for almost half of the council’s carbon footprint, with Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs) accounting for 70 per cent of emissions, despite only making up 28 per cent of the fleet.

Capital provision to replace 12 refuse collection vehicles and 30 recycling trucks with electric vehicles over the next two years will go some way to reducing this and will also bring savings on maintenance, fuel and vehicle tax.

Some of the time the vehicles will be charged using power generated by the solar panels on top of the buildings at the Keynsham Recycling Centre.

Sarah Warren, cabinet member for climate and sustainable travel, said: “We continue to invest in our key priority of tackling the climate and ecological emergency, despite the many challenges facing the council’s budget.

“We have worked hard to secure investment from external sources to help decarbonise our council buildings and generate renewable energy for example completing the installation of solar panels on the roof of the Bath Sports & Leisure Centre which was funded by the government’s Swimming Pool Support Fund.

“We are also continuing to improve the energy efficiency of homes across Bath & North East Somerset. Our programme of community-led action which is funded by £1.5 million from the National Lottery Climate Action Fund will support the creation of community Energy Champions who can provide residents with advice to reduce their energy bills and make their homes warmer.”

More information on how the council is tackling the climate emergency and what residents can do to contribute can be found here.