Climate Change and Air Quality Progress Report 2022 to 2023

Buckinghamshire Council secured £184k from the 2022/23 Local Authority Treescapes Fund (LATF) Round 2. The bid this year included partners from across Buckinghamshire including:

• Earthwatch LLP & Princes Risborough Combined School
• Dorneywood Scout Camp
• Releaf Marlow
• Earthwatch LLP & Buckingham Town Council
• Longridge Activity Centre
• Transport for Buckinghamshire

These organisations planted almost 1,500 trees across the county. Our first “Tiny Forests” in Bucks were created as part of this work. These were established in line with the Miyawaki” Method - packing 600 trees into an area no bigger than a tennis court.

The dense planting helps accelerate tree growth (and therefore achieves greater biodiversity and carbon sequestration rate improvements sooner), while their small size allows for these forests to be planted in urban areas – allowing for much needed exposure to nature in our towns and cities. The first tiny forest was planted by students and volunteers at Princes Risborough Combined School.

We partnered for the second year in a row with Releaf Marlow, who planted trees across a range of sites in their locality including two sites on Farmland.

A second tiny forest was also planted at Bourton Park, near Buckingham, by volunteers including local councillors from Buckingham Town Council:

The council received 1,000 trees from HS2 Ltd in May 2022. These were cared for by Chiltern Rangers who kept them in good shape throughout the dry summer.

The Climate Response Team organised a “tree giveaway day”, in conjunction with Chiltern Rangers, where over 20 groups from across the county collected the trees for onward planting.

Several were parish councils, alongside other organisations such as the Lindengate Charity and Hogshaw Farm. Chiltern Rangers also received several hundred trees for onward planting as part of their vital work in the county.

Funded by Buckinghamshire Council, 4,000 trees and shrubs were planted along the recently opened Platinum Park Way active travel route (see Action 42 for further details). Over a period of two weeks, volunteers from the council and community came together in spite of the cold weather to carry out the planting in conjunction with Chiltern Rangers.

Buckinghamshire Community Energy (BCE) have been developing a project to decarbonise the Wharf Road Campus in Wendover, which includes seven buildings: John Colet School, John Hampden School, Wendover Junior School, Wendover Swimming Pool, Wendover Youth Centre, Wendover Memorial Hall and Little Acorns Kindergarten.

Following a feasibility study in 2021, Buckinghamshire Council has been supporting BCE to progress the project which will focus on installations of solar PV in its first phase.

This is a community energy model whereby the community group attains a lease from the freeholder to put solar PV onto buildings which are funded through a share offer from the local community. The community group then installs and maintains the solar PV while the building user receives cheaper electricity.

The council has been working to develop an internal process which will create space for community energy projects on council assets. This will both support the council’s net zero targets and build capacity of community energy organisations in the county. The strategic significance of this project is to develop a flourishing community energy community in Buckinghamshire to support decarbonised, resilient energy systems.

The council’s Travel to School team provides advice to schools on travelling sustainably. While their primary focus is to encourage active travel and reduce the number of car journeys to school altogether, they also provide information on anti-idling. Information is provided in newsletters and to schools in the course of working with them on their school travel plans.

The team also deliver initiatives such as the Footsteps training scheme, bikeability and balanceability training, and Walk Once a Week (WOW) incentive scheme. In December 2022, Buckinghamshire Council came 1st in the Modeshift STARS (Sustainable Travel Accreditation and Recognition for Schools) scheme league table for the county with the council having the highest percentage of schools with a sustainable travel plan. There are a total of 64 accredited school travel plans across the county with three of the schools achieving platinum status.

Ad hoc support for schools from the Council’s Energy and Climate Change Team continues. In addition to several webinars, forms, and processes being provided to help matters in relation energy contracts, information about the additional capital funding provided by the Department for Education to improve school energy efficiency and a guidance regarding energy efficiency measures in schools was published on SchoolsWeb in January and February 2023.

The Energy Management Team have also provided advice to schools on how to reduce their energy usage, whether gas or electricity.

In early 2022 the council completed a lease and corresponding Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with an organisation called Solar for Schools at Spinfield School near Marlow.

Solar for Schools has subsequently installed 122 solar PV panels at the site with a maximum output of 50kWp. Generation from the system can meet up to 43% of the school’s electricity needs.

Over 25 years the installation is forecast to save the school over £37,000 and reduce emissions by 217 tonnes of CO2. The amount of electricity generated and carbon saved from the project can be checked by visiting the Solar for Schools website.

The council are excited to be working on further similar schemes that are already in the pipeline.

In 2022 the HQube project in High Wycombe won an award from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

The 12 industrial/business units

• incorporate repurposed shipping containers
• include roof-mounted solar PV systems on every roof (ranging from 2.1 - 2.7 kWp) and north roof lights to help maximise use of natural light
• have sanitaryware and fittings that help contribute to a 40% improvement in water efficiency against required standards
• have 6 electric vehicle charging points and external LED lighting installed at the site in addition to storage spaces for up to 60 bicycles