Our goals for going Green

A recent survey of showed that 74% of people across the region are concerned about environmental issues - easy to see from the number of local groups working to protect our rivers, trees and soil.

It's not surprising given what we hear every day about global warming and the depletion of nature across the world.

Liberal Democrats care deeply about the environment and have been campaigning on green issues at South Hams District Council for many years.

We pushed for all new housing developments to include more green space for people and room for nature. We were also instrumental in getting £500,000 allocated by the council to address climate change and biodiversity, and helped set up Sustainable South Hams to coordinate change.

Although SHDC declared a climate emergency and has a commitment to net zero, it does not have effective policies to get there and too little progress has been made. In contrast the Liberal Democrat vision and manifesto for SHDC includes a comprehensive green agenda with clear policies and goals:

• Annual investment by the council to address climate change and biodiversity
• Close working with community groups across the district to coordinate projects and allocate resources
• Electric Bicycle hubs
• More electric car charging points in car parks
• Solar cells over car parks
• Incentives to decrease waste and encourage reuse
• Establishment of Local Nature Reserves and local green spaces
• Support for local bus services, cycle paths and footpaths
• Policies to reduce food miles and encourage local produce
• Promotion of environmental sustainability for tourism
• Encouragement of community energy production
• Protection of wildlife by creating a network of wildlife corridors

We want the South Hams to be a leader in environmental and biodiversity policies. Together with the passion of local community groups, the knowledge of local experts and the support of the 74%, we aim to get there.

For more information, see our manifesto here.