Climate Emergency Declared

West Bergholt Parish Council declares A CLIMATE EMERGENCY

On Wednesday 26th January 2022 West Bergholt Parish Council agreed the following motion:

“THAT THIS COUNCIL BELIEVES THAT A CLIMATE EMERGENCY SHOULD BE DECLARED AND THAT THE PARISH COUNCIL WILL TAKE ACTION EITHER THROUGH ITS OWN WORK OR IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHERS IN THE PARISH TO CUT CARBON EMISSIONS, MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING AND IMPROVE NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS ALL IN THE WIDER INTERESTS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS”

Climate emergencies are being declared internationally by governments and locally by public organisations. This is to draw attention to the effects of human activity, resulting in an ever-warming planet and its potentially catastrophic effects on natural environments, wildlife and human habitats. These can be manifested by a rise in temperatures, rising sea levels and deteriorating conditions for all life

Around 75% of UK councils have declared a Climate Emergency. Colchester Borough Council voted unanimously to declare a climate emergency back in July 2019. Internationally COP 26 has reaffirmed the need to:

keep global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees, and
reduce the amount of carbon released into our atmosphere to achieve this.

What does this mean for the residents of West Bergholt?

Are you concerned about the deterioration of our natural environments and diminishing wildlife levels and habitats?
Do you want to do more than simply re-cycle your plastic, paper and glass?
Do you have ideas about how we could individually or collectively reduce our carbon footprints or improve local wildlife environments?

If so, we are asking for volunteers, across all age groups to join, or maybe lead, a new Working Party forward. They will help produce a strategy and a plan and initiate workshops.

We need people with communications skills; they will help spread the word by writing articles for the web and other social media.
Your organisational skills will ensure we have regular meetings and workshops; also talks from external speakers etc..
Your ideas will help to produce a strategy for local action; also a plan for those initiatives we can achieve in our village. Funding for initiatives is available from the Government and ECC and many other organisations to help with green projects.

Email Laura, our Parish Clerk, at [email protected] to join us. Once she has your contact details, she will send you further information on the first meeting.

Please join us to help improve the future; to safeguard as far as is possible an environment that future generations can enjoy.

Some interesting web sites for further information:

Press contact: Cllr Bob Tyrell, Chairman: Climate Emergency Working Party, West Bergholt Parish Council

November 3, 2017November 3, 2017

Could You Be First Responders? Help Save Lives!

Could You Be First Responders?

First responders save lives. Too often when there is an emergency the ambulance crew are not able to get there within the first few vital minutes. Locally based, community first responders are volunteers who are trained by the Ambulance Service. They attend Continue reading “Could You Be First Responders? Help Save Lives!”

May 23, 2014October 12, 2014

We’re prepared for an emergency

An Emergency Plan for West Bergholt

This is a plan which has been developed by the Parish Council with the help of Colchester Borough Council and the Emergency Services to help us in the village cope with an unforeseen situation which needs rapid and decisive action. Emergencies can occur with little or no warning and could be caused by many different factors including:

Natural disaster,
Severe weather,
Technological / industrial accidents,
Power failures,
Failure of communications (e.g. telephones or broadband),
Transport disruption and village cut off,
Terrorism.

The risk to the village from any of these events is small and difficult to assess. In the event of a situation deemed to be an emergency The Borough Council is the responsible body that will work with the Emergency Services. Our role is strictly to support these actions. The village plan focuses on how The Parish Council would assist in providing an emergency Reception Centre and how it could support vulnerable village residents. The document is deliberately short and hopefully of practical use, to view it click the link – West Bergholt Emergency Plan.

To carry out our role the Parish Council needs access to a team of volunteers who could carry out activities such as staffing a Reception Centre at the Orpen Hall. Various village groups do already have such volunteers and these will be contacted but should you be willing to assist in such activity please contact Harry Stone through the Parish Clerk [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].

The Parish Council believes that in some emergency situations (e.g. prolonged power failure in severe weather) some vulnerable residents could be at risk. A list of such residents is to be compiled although it is appreciated that holding such information has to be handled sensitively and with the accepted protection. Again existing organisations such as the Care Network and Churches will be contacted but also if a possible resident who it is known has no regular contact from relatives or friends please inform the Parish Clerk. No name will be added without personal contact being made and their agreement.