The Local Plan and Climate Change

The recent hot and very dry weather is a reminder of the profound issue of climate change. Of course, one unusually warm summer is not, of itself, an indicator of climate change but the connection came to mind on reading through the Emerging Local Plan as part of my review.

I was expecting the Local Plan to refer in a general sense to climate change but noticed a particularly striking prediction that in the foreseeable future, rainfall in the south of England will reduce by around 40% during the summer months. It is possible to imagine that as a result, the current abnormally dry summer we are experiencing will become the routine.

This would lead to a profound change to our area. Think of what that would mean to the way we live, the needs of local people and businesses and especially to the green parts of our Borough. Such a change would, as the years go by, have more consequences for the generations that follow us.

The Local Plan, and the Council, has policies to tackle and mitigate climate change but this startling prediction is a reminder of how urgent this pressing issue is and the need for all of us to get involved.