Find out how you can save money and reduce your food waste!
Did you know that the average Essex family is losing roughly £720 every year on wasted food? Not only is this a waste of our money, but it’s also damaging to the environment and contributing to climate change!
Before putting food in your compost bin or your food waste caddy, there are steps we can all take in cutting out the amount of food we waste in Essex.
Our Love Essex website provides many tips and ideas on how you can save money and reduce your food waste at home.
Solar Farm Guiding Principles published on Essex Design Guide
Solar farms are one of the most established renewable electricity technologies in the UK and the cheapest form of electricity generation.
The Essex Climate Action Commission has recommended that ‘Essex produces enough renewable energy within the county to meet its own needs by 2040’, with the Commission seeing a role in this for large scale solar production. Essex is experiencing a significant number of planning applications for solar farms at a range of scales and this is expected to continue to rise if Government targets for renewable energy are to be met.
The Solar Farm Guiding Principles have been developed in collaboration with Essex Local Planning Authorities to provide local guidance on planning proposals for ground-mounted solar farms and inform a consistent set of minimum requirements of issues that need to be addressed.
The guidance will help to ensure the local area and communities are able to benefit as much as possible through high quality solar farm developments that maximise environmental and socioeconomic benefits, minimise local environmental impact and provide significant community benefits.
Grant awarded to Essex County Council to improve local natural environment
Essex County Council has successfully bid for a grant of £98,495 from the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund to unlock private and public investment to create and improve existing habitats across Essex.
This is the first project to receive funding for the Climate Focus Area which is one of the Commission's recommendations highlighted in the Net Zero: Making Essex Carbon Neutral report. The area will help us to develop positive change through a fast and holistic approach to help us get to net zero.
Essex County Council is working closely with partners to develop a Climate Focus Area to accelerate best practice in sustainable land management. The project will include working with landowners who are keen on creating new wildlife areas and experimenting with new sustainable farming techniques. It will also involve working with investors that may see benefits from these new and improved natural areas.
The funding will help to support the delivery of the Climate Focus Area which will improve nature, quality of rivers, lower carbon usage and lock up carbon in the plants and the soil.
The Climate Focus Area will revolutionise the landscape of Essex creating large areas of wildlife and sustainable farming required to offset climate change and protect wildlife.
Essex delivers flood schemes to reduce risk of flooding
Essex County Council (ECC) has been working with stakeholders on the delivery of a flood alleviation scheme that aims to reduce the risk of flooding in 12 residential properties on Coast Road, The Lane and West Mersea.
A large tidal surge occurred in December 2013 flooding around ten properties in the area, and at least six incidents or near misses have been recorded since then, causing significant damage to property and disruption to the community.
The flood alleviation scheme involves the installation of a flood defence barrier and infrastructure that will be deployed across The Lane and Carriers Close at times when there is an Environment Agency flood warning in place. Once constructed, the scheme will be handed over to a group of resident volunteers to operate and maintain, which is a unique feature of the scheme and potentially one of the first examples of such an approach in the UK.
The Council's contractors, Ringway Jacobs and Forward Spread are well advanced with Phase One of the works, which includes the construction of the foundation between the Lane and Carrier Close, and re-instatement of the existing flood walls. On completion of this phase, they will move onto Phase Two which will involve completing the foundation beyond Carriers Close, up to the tie in point at Nothe the Cottages.
The scheme is expected to be completed by August/September 2022. For any questions about the scheme, please contact floods@essex.gov.uk or visit the Flood Management Team’s Facebook page.
Free mobile app that teaches children the importance of our oceans
Ocean Generation has teamed up with educational app Earth Cubs to help young children learn all about our oceans and why it’s important to look after them.
Children aged 3-11 can explore a wide variety of virtual landscapes to discover various games, puzzles, facts and videos which teach children how to be eco-friendly.
The Earth Cubs app can be downloaded on iOS and Android devices for free.
Essex launches Summer of Culture Guide 2022- check out the line-up of events!
The Summer of Culture 2022 celebrates ‘The World Around Us’ and brings together fascinating features from artists, theatres and galleries.
Celebrating and supporting the county’s creative sector, the Summer of Culture guide highlights all the forthcoming events – featuring art exhibitions, shows, music, dance and much more.
Reconnect with each other and the world around you this summer. Read the Summer of Culture Guide now and discover fascinating features, explore events and exhibitions, delve further into the climate debate, and celebrate the wealth of local arts and culture in Essex.
Essex shortlisted for two major awards
We are delighted to announce that Essex County Council was shortlisted as a finalist for two prestigious awards, the Local Government Chronicle Awards (LGC) Awards 2022 for which we were in the final six and The MJ Awards 2022 in recognition of the pioneering work delivered across the county as we work towards our goal of becoming net-zero by 2050.
Our entry for the MJ Awards focused on Essex County Council’s leadership in responding to the climate emergency. The entry for the LGC Awards (Local Government Chronicle) focused on Essex County Council’s ambitious Climate Focus Area recommendations. This is an area which we plan to develop positive change across Essex through a fast and holistic approach to reducing our carbon footprint.
This year, the LGC awards achieved a record number of entries, and we are honoured to be shortlisted as a finalist - a huge congratulations to the team!
Young Essex composer creates new music anthem on climate action πΌπ·πΊπΉ πΌ
Essex County Council has been working with young Essex composer, Chester Tribley, and the Essex Youth Orchestra to compose an anthem for climate action in Essex – to mark the importance of a stable, habitable and precious climate.
This piece of music, titled Restoration, aims to inspire people to take action on climate change, to consider its chaos and to go back to basics, by taking time to pause, look at and listen to the beauty of the world around us.
The Essex Climate Action Commission’s purpose is to provide expert advice and up-to-date recommendations to move Essex to net zero by 2050. The recommendations made by the Commission also consider the roles of multiple forms of communication and engagement across Essex, all of which contribute to moving Essex to a net zero county.
Connecting to the natural world through arts, music in particular, is a powerful and often untapped method of raising environmental awareness. Likewise, music can bring together communities across the board, in a unique way – embracing the beauty of sound to reflect on the wonders of our natural world.
A performance of Restoration will take place on Friday 12 August at Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, as part of a wider showcase of young musical talent in Essex. The Essex Youth Orchestra and Essex Young People’s Orchestra Summer Concert is free to attend and will also include performances of well-known classical pieces, such as Stravinsky’s Firebird and Bizet’s Carmen Suites.
As you listen to Restoration, consider what the future may look like – without action and with action. Let the music guide you through both scenarios, where dystopia transforms to utopia, awakening us to the choice that, ultimately, is in the hands of our society.
We hope to see you at the concert!