Dear Tunbridge Wells Lib Dems - Why we can't compromise on climate.
Why did Lib Dems in Tunbridge Wells vote against a motion in support of the Climate and Nature Bill and at the same time try and weaken the council's own commitment to net zero?
Hello, welcome to my Substack newsletter. I’m Jayne Sharratt, a writer, Labour Councillor and community campaigner from Tunbridge Wells in Kent.
On my birthday in November this year, I spent ten minutes sitting in the centre of Tunbridge Wells in solidarity with a Mothers’ Rebellion Climate Action. I wasn’t feeling well, the rain was pouring down, and I was holding a cardboard placard that read, ‘Later is too late’. I felt like the people who stand at Oxford Circus telling shoppers The End is Nigh, and I started to wonder if my message might be a bit too depressing. Yes, we need it to be understood that the crisis is so serious that not acting might mean the end of the world really is nigh - but we also need hope, or how can we keep going?
The Climate and Nature Bill that will be brought to parliament as a Private Members Bill this January gives me and the other women who sat with me in a circle on that rainy day in November, hope. It’s the law we need if we are to pass on a liveable planet to future generations. Cross-party support for the bill is being organised by Zero Hour, and to date it is backed by 191 MPs, 64 Peers, and 375 Councils.
I wanted Tunbridge Wells Borough Council to be part of this hopeful wave of support, and so I put on notice a motion that gave it the council’s backing and reaffirmed our 2019 Climate Emergency Declaration commitment to reach net zero for the council’s own operations by 2030.
This is the motion I read out at the Full Council meeting on 11th December 2024:
“Motion in support of the Climate and Nature Bill Tunbridge Wells Borough Council resolves to:
1. Reaffirm our own Council commitment to embedding climate action across our operations to achieve net zero by 2030 and committing to evidence-based nature recovery projects and meaningful engagement with residents to ensure that climate action projects have support from the community.
2. Write to Zero Hour, the organisers of the cross-party campaign for the Bill, expressing our official support. (councils@zerohour.uk)”
I felt fairly confident that it would pass - the Bill has cross-party support including from the Liberal Democrat Party and all seventy-two of their MPs. The Borough has a Lib Dem administration, so it seemed certain to me that they would back my motion.
What transpired instead was surprising, concerning and disappointing.
First, the Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability asked for an amendment to the motion - he wanted to change the council’s commitment to reach net zero by 2030 to ‘as soon as is reasonably possible’, a vague phrasing that would compromise the council’s longstanding commitment to the environment. Shocking.
What were the Lib Dem administration’s reasons? They said they wanted to be honest with the public. They said that net zero by 2030 is impossible because decarbonisation is expensive, and replacing gas boilers before the end of their life might cause more, not less, waste.
These are valid points, but hardly news. Decarbonisation was always going to be challenging and expensive- but, crucially, global warming, changing weather, and mass extinctions in nature will be more challenging and expensive than figuring out when and how to replace gas boilers.
The portfolio holder also said that they needed more support from central government, however since the purpose of the Climate and Nature Bill is to ensure a strong, joined-up, whole government approach, as well as protecting environmental policy from political vacillations and changes in government, it seems to me to be a reason to support my motion rather than oppose it. I am happy to lobby government for more support for local councils with their net zero goals.
Sometimes you have to do hard and uncomfortable things because you have no choice, and acting on climate and nature to pass on a liveable planet to the next generation is inescapable. Better an ambitious target you nearly achieve than a word salad fumble that lets you off the hook.
Are the Lib Dem’s making this mistake in good faith, like they say? I hope so. I’d give them the benefit of the doubt except this latest move is part of a pattern of weakening focus on climate and nature since they took control of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in May this year.
First, the portfolios for environment and sustainability have been put together to be managed by one person. This must dilute focus. Then, as the Tunbridge Wells Climate Coalition have said, their new draft Strategic Plan had a weaker focus on climate action than the previous version.
So, the latest Lib Dem debacle that saw them oppose a motion in support of a Bill their own party supports is part of a concerning pattern I’d urge them to reverse. Our planet can’t wait. I’m happy to talk to them about how we might move forward from here.
Thankfully, the attempt to weaken the council’s commitment to net zero failed thanks to opposition parties (Labour, Conservatives, Tunbridge Wells Alliance and Independent Councillor David Hayward) strongly coming together and two Lib Dem Councillors breaking ranks. I’m grateful to the support of other Councillors in doing this. Let’s double down on our efforts instead.
Sadly, we were unable to pass the motion in support of the Climate and Nature Bill, and we won’t now be able to do so before the Bill is brought to parliament in January. If you would like to find out more about the Climate and Nature Bill you can do so here. You can watch the Full Council meeting recording here, under the heading ‘Motion on notice by Councillor Sharratt.’
