Achieving our climate commitment

To achieve the Council’s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and to overall reduce our environmental impact, the Council needs to change the way it works and does things.

This requires organisational change so that staff and councillors understand what they can do in their working and personal lives to reduce their environmental impact.

Here’s what the Council is doing to change the way it works to help tackle climate change:

• Producing training for staff and councillors to help them understand about environmental issues, and how they take action into their work and personal lives to reduce their environmental impact.
• Produced a ‘Sustainability and Carbon Reduction Assessment’ (and associated guidance) to help staff consider ways to reduce the environmental impacts of their projects.
• Review and update the Council’s Travel Plan, which provides support and advice to encourage staff to travel to and for work using more sustainable means like walking, cycling or public transport.
• Reducing the amount of printing and postage we do at the Council to reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions
• Reduce the environmental impacts of our ICT systems and processes

Case study: Colchester City Council Travel Plan – Helping staff travel sustainably

The Council has a Travel Plan which is kept up to date to support Council staff to travel to and for work sustainably. For example, discounts are available for buses, Park and Ride and train travel, alongside a salary sacrifice scheme for bikes. There are also a selection of pool bikes and electric cargo bikes available for staff to use to travel to meetings and events.

The Council also provides ‘Dr Bike’ maintenance and repair sessions to fix staff bikes, and have secured funding to install a new covered bike shed to increase the provision and security of bike storage for staff working at Shrub End Depot.

Covered bike shed installed at Shrub End Depot to support staff cycling to work.