Our Climate Conversation

Bromsgrove Climate Action, a subgroup of Friends of the Earth, have collected over 160 signatures to give in to our MP Sajid Javid in support of the petition Bromsgrove for Warm Homes. There are three demands:
Urgent effective support for the poorest in our society to afford to pay their energy bills. What we really need is a long-term policy to protect people’s essential energy needs, reduce their bills and cut carbon like that proposed in The National Energy Guarantee

Calling on the government to roll out a rapid, street-by-street insulation programme, coordinated by councils. This should start with the neighbourhoods hardest hit by the crisis and be provided free of charge in areas where people are living on low incomes. It must be followed with deeper measures to upgrade our homes to ensure they are cheaper and greener to heat by 2030.

An energy system powered by cheap green renewables to end the need for expensive polluting gas. This will require fitting millions of homes with modern electric-powered heat pumps and a rapid expansion of onshore wind and solar power across the UK, as well as our vast offshore renewable resources.

Renewables' share of UK electricity generation was 42.1 per cent in Quarter 2 2023, higher than the same quarter last year (38.7 per cent) and higher than fossil fuels' share of generation (38.8 per cent). Bromsgrove could play a part in expanding clean energy provision by supporting schemes like the proposed Foxwalks Solar Farm that borrows farmland from the Green Belt for a fixed period, in this case 40 years whilst still permitting sheep to graze underneath.

For a long time we have supported the Local Electricity Bill that enables community-run renewable energy schemes to be able to sell their clean power locally. The campaigning battle has gone on in Parliament for some years to bring over 320 MPs on board. As a result of continued pressure the Government announced a £10 million Community Energy Fund at the end of August, and the Labour Party also recently announced their plan for a £400 million low-interest loans community energy fund, should they become the next government Things are beginning to happen.

The Bromsgrove for Warm Homes Day of Action is Saturday November 18 2023. One of the on-going initiatives is a poetry writing competition (entries by December 11 online to bca.poetry.1@gmail.com, paper entries to Bromsgrove Printing), another is the making of a Community Quilt. If you would like to contribute 18cm squares then please contact by text to 07759 598033