At last week’s meeting of the full council, elected members made a special pledge for the council to be carbon neutral by 2030.

The motion, which was unanimously supported by councillors, means that action will be taken to ensure the council and its estates – from the civic offices to the Waterside waste depot at Cheney Manor Industrial Estate – achieve full carbon neutrality by the end of the decade.

In short, this council is committed to playing its part in the fight against climate change, and we consider this public commitment to carbon neutrality an important demonstration of how seriously we are taking this issue. By taking a lead in this way, it is hoped that we can inspire local businesses, residents and other organisations to take a similar approach.

In Swindon, we have a really positive story to tell about becoming more environmentally friendly, and as a council our commitment to going carbon neutral neatly ties together a number of carbon-reduction schemes we have already been undertaken.

Since the establishment of our climate change working group last year, we have developed new rules that will require every house built in the borough to include charging points for electric vehicles. We have made further investments in solar energy and have bought our own electric vehicles for our fleets. The civic campus has seen the installation of electric vehicle charging points and, over the coming months, we will be investing in LED street lighting to save energy and taxpayers’ money in the long term.

As well as the solar farms we have created over the last few years, we have also put solar panels on the roof of the civic office and on the rooves of our warehouses at Waterside. Indeed, the solar farm at Barnfield currently provides 60 per cent of the energy used at the Waterside site.

Acting from feedback from residents, we also introduced a food waste trial to ensure that discarded food is properly disposed of. Links with environmental organisations such as the Woodland Trust and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust have been developed and plans are being drawn up to increase tree cover across the borough over the next ten years.

At the start of the year, a brand new Swindon cycle map was launched and can be viewed and downloaded via the Swindon Travel Choices website swindontravelchoices.co.uk.

I would like to thank my cabinet colleagues and council officers who have done a lot of work to get us this far as well as members of the public who have done so much to put this issue firmly on the political agenda.

I have every confidence that by 2030 a carbon neutral council will be a reality. There is a lot of work ahead, but we are more than committed to hitting this ambitious target that we have set for ourselves. By leading the way, it is my hope that we can encourage and inspire other agencies and businesses within the town to do the same so that together with residents, we can work towards a carbon zero Swindon.