Plans have been revealed aiming to make Cheshire and Warrington the fairest and greenest place in the country.
The Cheshire and Warrington Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Commission was set up with the aim of moving further and faster towards achieving the sub-region’s ambition of becoming the most sustainable and inclusive place in the UK, helping to address inequalities and climate change in the process.
Recent months have seen the need for progress highlighted, with the country experiencing the impacts of climate change in recent heatwaves and the need for inclusive growth being shown through the Cost of Living Crisis.
The commission has now made a number of ambitious recommendations around an inclusive economy, sustainable transport, sustainable land use and Net Zero in its report ‘Towards a Sustainable and Inclusive Cheshire and Warrington’.
These include:
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- A fair employment charter for Cheshire and Warrington
- The decarbonisation of dairy
- The full decarbonisation of all transport by 2035
- Building the UK’s First Net Zero industrial cluster around the area’s large hydrogen and net zero projects
- Access to digital for all
- Making current land use net zero
The commission will now work with partners and stakeholders, including the local authorities, to plan for the implementation of the key priorities.
Sam Corcoran, Leader of Cheshire East Council, and co-chair of the Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Commission said: “We have set out a number of ambitious recommendations that we believe will accelerate progress towards our goals of encouraging sustainable economic growth to increase prosperity and create greater equality and opportunities for all, as well as accelerating our progress towards Net Zero.
“We will do this by creating an inclusive economy, making our land use sustainable, making transport sustainable and achieving our Net Zero goals.
“So much great work is already going on to achieve these aims but this is about us accelerating that progress and we will be working together to make that happen. We need everyone – residents, businesses and stakeholders engaged to do so.”
The commission will now also be promoting the plan to stakeholders, residents and businesses to ensure proper collaboration on achieving its aims.
Other recommendations made by the commission include:
- Public investment to address disadvantage and target opportunities
- Improve active travel and public transport
- Provide new infrastructure/ support for electric cars and zero-emission vehicles to make them cost effective and accessible
- Work with businesses, public sector and agriculture to speed up the transition to a circular economy
- Retrofitting insulation and clean energy to housing, particularly for social housing and disadvantaged households.
Robert Davis, CEO of EA Technology, and co-chair of the Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Commission, said: “Businesses are at the heart of our recommendations and are key to us making Cheshire a greener place but also a fairer one, where there are opportunities for everyone.
“A key part of these plans is encouraging growth that will increase prosperity, providing even greater opportunities for businesses. To make this happen though, we need businesses to work with us, to make them a reality.
“We will now set out to promote the plan across Cheshire and Warrington and speak with and engage with businesses – not just on what we need from them, but what we can offer to help them grow and achieve their aims.
“Alongside our public sector partners these businesses will be key to leading the revolution to a sustainable and inclusive economy here in Cheshire and Warrington.”
You can find out more and read the commission’s report here: Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Commission – Cheshire and Warrington
