County Council and the environment

The Somerset Wildlife Trust has challenged our new Somerset County Council to live up to the policies published by the Conservative Party statements on its intentions regarding the environment if it gets elected to form a new government. Below is what it says it will do nationally.

How will it act locally?

************************************************************************************

Environment

A Conservative Government will make Britain greener by tackling climate change and enhancing our environment.

We believe quality of life and environmental issues must be at the heart of politics – which is why we have pledged to improve Britain's environment by reversing the decline in our biodiversity, improving urban green spaces, providing incentives to recycle and working towards zero waste.

Britain is struggling to cope with growing mountains of waste. Ending our reliance on landfill is not just a question of raising recycling targets and finding better ways of coping with waste from discarded products; it is about changing our mindset. We need to act long before a product becomes waste in the first place - producers should be considering the waste implications when a product is still on the drawing board.

A Conservative Government will therefore introduce a Responsibility Deal on waste - a voluntary arrangement among producers to cut back on the production of waste and improve its disposal. In addition, we will encourage councils to adopt a scheme which gives incentives to households that recycle.

There is also an urgent and growing need to improve the protection of our marine environment, as many of our fish stocks have been over-exploited. We have called for legislation to conserve our marine habitats and are working to ensure the Marine and Coastal Access Bill is strengthened before it becomes law. We will also work to reform the Common Fisheries Policy to achieve a fair deal for our fishermen and seek a pilot scheme, supported by the European Commission, to help end the wasteful practice of fish discarding.

Because climate change adaption must go hand in hand with mitigation measures, we are committed to increasing Britain’s ability to cope with extreme weather conditions, for example by improving our flood prevention measures.