The Mayor's Big Climate Chat

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Our survey ran 16 November - 23 March 2024 and is now closed. Thank you to everyone who took part. We are now analysing your feedback and will publish the results on this page.


Making our region cleaner, greener and healthier

We want West Yorkshire to be a place where everyone can enjoy the economic, health and environmental benefits of a net zero carbon economy by 2038.

The Combined Authority is working with its partners to:

  • Create a cleaner, greener and more affordable transport system
  • Improve the energy efficiency of our homes and businesses
  • Accelerate investment in climate and nature solutions like natural flood management
  • Create new green jobs so people in West Yorkshire can excel in the careers of the future

But we cannot do this alone – we need the support of everyone in our region, and the businesses and organisations based here.

We’ve launched the Mayor’s Big Climate Chat survey to ask you what you think about the climate, what changes you want to see in our region and how we can best support you.


Our survey is open until Sunday 24 March 2024 and we want to hear from as many people, businesses and organisations as possible.

You can find out more information about what action is already being taken here.


Young People's Survey (11 - 18yrs old)

We have also launched a Young People's Survey. If you have young family members between the ages of 11 - 18, give them the opportunity to have their say.

The young people's survey closes at the end of April 2024.

Take our Young People's survey here.


Next steps

After the engagement has closed, the responses received will be analysed and used to help update our Climate and Environment Plan.

We will share a summary of the responses received and at the end of the process, we expect to show how your views have shaped the plan.

Contact us

If you have any questions, you can get in touch with us:

Ask the team using our Questions tool.

Email: yourvoice@westyorks-ca.gov.uk

Telephone: 0113 245 7676 (MetroLine)

Post: Freepost CONSULTATION TEAM WYCA


logo

Our survey ran 16 November - 23 March 2024 and is now closed. Thank you to everyone who took part. We are now analysing your feedback and will publish the results on this page.


Making our region cleaner, greener and healthier

We want West Yorkshire to be a place where everyone can enjoy the economic, health and environmental benefits of a net zero carbon economy by 2038.

The Combined Authority is working with its partners to:

  • Create a cleaner, greener and more affordable transport system
  • Improve the energy efficiency of our homes and businesses
  • Accelerate investment in climate and nature solutions like natural flood management
  • Create new green jobs so people in West Yorkshire can excel in the careers of the future

But we cannot do this alone – we need the support of everyone in our region, and the businesses and organisations based here.

We’ve launched the Mayor’s Big Climate Chat survey to ask you what you think about the climate, what changes you want to see in our region and how we can best support you.


Our survey is open until Sunday 24 March 2024 and we want to hear from as many people, businesses and organisations as possible.

You can find out more information about what action is already being taken here.


Young People's Survey (11 - 18yrs old)

We have also launched a Young People's Survey. If you have young family members between the ages of 11 - 18, give them the opportunity to have their say.

The young people's survey closes at the end of April 2024.

Take our Young People's survey here.


Next steps

After the engagement has closed, the responses received will be analysed and used to help update our Climate and Environment Plan.

We will share a summary of the responses received and at the end of the process, we expect to show how your views have shaped the plan.

Contact us

If you have any questions, you can get in touch with us:

Ask the team using our Questions tool.

Email: yourvoice@westyorks-ca.gov.uk

Telephone: 0113 245 7676 (MetroLine)

Post: Freepost CONSULTATION TEAM WYCA


Questions

You can read our Frequently Asked Questions for more information. If you have a question, you can write it here and we will get back to you.

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  • Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this link

    Will the planning application for an incinerator plant in Sowerby Bridge be refused again ?

    Bob Alcantarilla asked about 2 months ago

    Thank you for taking the time to ask this question. Planning powers sit with the five West Yorkshire authorities who make recommendations and determine planning application in their respective authorities, based on their own local planning policies. 

    You may wish to give your feedback to Calderdale Council, if you haven't already done so.

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    What stops you from collecting and composting green waste, then reselling it as garden compost?

    Sylvia Suddes asked about 2 months ago

    Thank you for taking the time to ask this question. The West Yorkshire Combined Authority isn't a waste authority, so this means that we aren't responsible for the management and disposal of waste in the region. But your local authority is responsible for waste collection, and so you may wish to contact them directly.  

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    do you have any part time paid or voluntary work for an electrical engineer student aged 20 who is keen on alternative energy

    CJK asked about 1 month ago

    Thank you for getting in touch about jobs in alternative energy. 

    You could start by filling out a short form on the Adult Careers Support page: Adult careers support (futuregoals.co.uk) 

    Or visit our Skills Connect Courses page: Skills Connect Training Courses (futuregoals.co.uk) 

    There is also a green skills course in construction if this is of interest: Reignite your Career (Construction and Green Skills) (futuregoals.co.uk) 

    Best of luck with your search.

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    Why is West Yorkshire Pension Fund still investing in fossil fuels?

    Mollie Somerville asked 2 months ago

    Mayor Brabin and the Combined Authority are committed to encouraging divestment from fossil fuel companies at the West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF), as outlined in the West Yorkshire Climate and Environment Plan. 

    A recent press release has been issued by the pension fund committing to reviewing its level of equity holdings in the oil and gas sector. It also confirms that it will not use WYPF assets to fund new fossil fuel developments. Details on the press release can be found here.

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    Why does this survey think that by Milking the population of their hard earned will sort the climate crisis out .??

    Robert Harting asked 2 months ago

    Thank you for taking the time to share your comments. Your feedback will be analysed as part of The Mayor's Big Climate Chat consultation.

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    When will WYCA decide which of the pathways to reduce carbon emissions it will take, from the report it accepted in 2020? That report was a huge education for me, and I wonder why it seems as if it has been ignored by WYCA and by WYCA councillors, because it is not referred to in any of this climate chat.

    Ludi Simpson asked 2 months ago

    Thank you for your question about our Carbon Emissions Reduction Pathways. We have commissioned consultants to work on refreshing our Carbon Emissions Reduction Pathways. The consultants appointed will support us to refresh our pathways to net zero to take us up to 2038. We will aim to publish our new Carbon Emissions Reduction Pathways in 2025.

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    I want to be convinced at what we do actually will help the env and is not just lining the pockets of vested interests. It seems like we are being forced to do things which we do not fully understand the implications off.

    parm asked 3 months ago

    Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We aim to always be open and transparent with our plans and interventions as a Combined Authority - including with our plans for climate and environment. We have a rigorous procurement strategy and are bound by public procurement rules when we work with private sector partners. We will be developing our next Climate and Environment Plan throughout 2024, and will aim for transparency within this process.

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    Where is Garden waste taken for composting? How does the Local Government prevent pollution of the environment when people put plastic in their garden waste bin? Have you visited the banks of the river Aire near Allerton Bywater, Castleford and Knottingley after flooding? The plastic apocalypse is happening and has been happening for a number of years. It is not possible to pick up or remove waste that is in the bed of the river. Some plastics sink, electronics, CD cases, plastic bottles without caps, coat hangers, synthetic fibers, car tires, cigarette butts, wet wipes and many more items are non-recoverable from the environment. In 2008 I visited a sandy beach in wales, up the coast from Porthmadog. The beach contained countless millions of pieces of fragmented polythene. Most polythene travels directly down the rivers Aire and Calder, it is NOT blown to the side by the breeze, because it is too low in the water. Polythene is shredded, as it catches on trees and is torn at by debris traveling down the rivers, on its one way journey. A lot of litter is blown into rivers and tributaries from littering, failed waste collection systems and from roads and pavements. It doesn't travel direct, it gets onto property and roads and blows around, getting run over and fragmented for months or years before being washed down drains. There is no funding to regularly clear litter form the guided bus lane along York Road into Leeds, so the litter just gets ground up until it blows or washes down a drain. People aren't generally allowed to walk alongside motorways to pick up litter. I have followed lorries shedding plastic on the M1 and M62 from their waste cargo. Sometimes the pieces of trash were hitting my car. Sometimes pieces of waste were so small they were falling from the gap in the juddering trailer doors like sand from a sand timer. At this time of year, ponds are frozen over and wildfowl generally leaves sites like St Aidans to find warmer water that doesn't have a covering of ice. This means the ducks and swans will have to venture onto the River. There is still duck-weed amongst some of the flood debris and the ducks will be hungry and trying to keep warm, unfortunately, there are millions of tiny fragments of plastic amongst the flood debris, in contact with the floating duckweed. Many of the ducks will soon have full bellies, but most of what they eat will not be digestible. In the weeks ahead, there will be dead ducks floating down the river. Plastic waste fragments hide from view. Plastic is the same density as wet straw. When strawy vegetation deposited by flooding dries out, it's density decreases and as soon as the extremely lightweight waste is touched or moves with the wind or a bird walking over it, the plastic fragments fall through the waste onto the ground below. Most people don't get close enough to the river water to see plastic fragments that are only several millimeters across. We need to stop plastic from entering West Yorkshire's rivers. The Rivers Aire and Calder are two of the top three most polluted rivers in the UK! I have picked up around three hundred bin bags full of plastic and Alu cans from the countryside since Covid kicked off, mostly around just part of one village, flooding has occurred and the place is instantly trashed again with waste coming down river from the wealthy city of Leeds. I have lots of ideas and suggestions about how local government and the combined authority can better protect the environment and protect nature. There was no space for general comments in the questionnaire. I have science and ecology qualifications. There are empty buildings with heating burning gas, schools with so much lighting it is like daylight all night, even though there's no-one awake to see it. Parish councils spending tens of thousands on Christmas lights which seem to require the littering of dozens of plastic tie wraps, both when installed and when being removed for storage. No money spent on litter bins that are falling apart or unusable. help, please.

    Stew asked 3 months ago

    Thank you for sharing your feedback and concerns about litter and plastic waste in our environment. We agree that this is an important issue. The West Yorkshire Combined Authority is not a waste authority which means that we are not responsible for the management and disposal of waste in the region. However, we work to promote resource efficiency through our Business Environmental Sustainability programme. The five local authorities within the Combined Authority are the waste authorities for their regions, and have in place their own policies and procedures to limit plastic pollution.

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    I'd like to know whether it would be feasible to educate/enforce motorists who idle their engines whilst parked. Various councils in the UK already allow reporting of this.

    giles dumont asked 3 months ago

    Thank you for sharing your question about air quality and car idling. Improving air quality is important to us a region, and there are currently 36 Air Quality Management Areas in West Yorkshire and Bradford’s Class C+ Clean Air Zone went live in September 2022 to bring levels of nitrogen dioxide within legal limits. 

    Everyone has the right to grow up and live in places where they can breathe clean air. Although air quality is a statutory responsibility of the West Yorkshire local authorities, the Combined Authority continues to support the work they do to improve air quality for everyone who lives and works in West Yorkshire. This includes working with our five West Yorkshire district partner councils to develop a West Yorkshire air quality strategy as part of our ongoing climate and environment work to reduce emissions to support health and environmental improvements, and includes looking at transport sources such as those from idling vehicles. The five West Yorkshire authorities also hold their own air quality strategies and lead on initiatives in this area. We also would recommend that you get in touch with your local council for any further details you require on the work they are doing about this issue.

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    Why are we planting trees yet still felling mature trees. I've asked WYCA about numbers of trees felled in our region. No numbers exist. Strange when trees planted are being counted. We need to record numbers so we know if we are making any progress. Mature trees should not be felled. We need all our mature trees and plant more besides.

    Heather Peacock asked 3 months ago

    Thank you for your comment about tree loss. We acknowledge the importance of minimising tree loss and protecting mature trees. We also acknowledge your concern that we don't have a number for how may trees have been felled in our region, and appreciate your suggestion to keep a log of this. We always aim to minimise tree loss and avoid tree felling where this is possible. We are also part of the White Rose Forest Partnership which is aiming to plant more than seven million new trees by 2025.

Page last updated: 12 Apr 2024, 05:29 PM