Surrey's Greener Future - Call for Evidence

Overview

Scope of the inquiry

Surrey's Greener Future Task Group will focus on Surrey County Council's recent declaration of a climate emergency and the actions the council needs to take to achieve net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible. The task group will also consider the role residents need to play in their local community and the wider impact of other public sector organisations and the private sector on the county’s environment to develop a system-wide position.  

Written Submissions

We want to hear from Surrey residents, businesses and partners so we can write a call for action. The task group will be reporting its findings to Council in December 2019 and will base its recommendations on the evidence you provide so this is an excellent opportunity to influence the council’s future strategy.

The task group welcomes written evidence on some, or all, of the points below by Sunday 15 September in no more than 2,000 words. You can use links to other sources to support your submission. You can submit evidence using this web page, by emailing democraticservices@surreycc.gov.uk  or in writing to Democratic Services, County Hall, Room 122, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2DN using the form at the foot of this page.

Your information including your views, will be collected and used to identify the actions needed to be taken by Surrey County Council to achieve net zero carbon emissions. The Task Group will also use your views to consider the role of residents and the impact of public sector and private sector organisations on the county environment, as well as for research and statistical analysis. It will be shared with the members of the Surrey’s Greener Future Task Group as well as disclosed (including your name and contact details ) and published on Surrey Says https://www.surreysays.co.uk.  Our lawful basis allows us to process your personal data when it is necessary for us in the performance of our public tasks and in the interest of the public. It will be retained for the life of the Surrey’s Greener Future project requirements. See more privacy information https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/your-privacy/corporate-privacy-notice

Why your views matter

Surrey’s Community Vision for 2030 contains the ambition that:

“Residents will live in clean, safe and green communities, where people and organisations embrace their environmental responsibilities”

This reflects Surrey residents’ desire to preserve their county for future generations. It recognises that people and organisations are collectively responsible for ensuring Surrey is safe, free from pollution and has open, green spaces to enjoy in the future.

As this is part of the vision, there’s a responsibility on all of us to turn this into a reality.

So, when members of Surrey County Council met in July, we declared a climate emergency and made a number of commitments to our environment. This included that we would deliver a strategy setting out what we will do to improve the environment in Surrey.

And this is where you come in. We are forming a cross-party task group of councillors that will test what the ambition means in reality. To do that, we want to hear from Surrey residents, businesses and partners so we can write a call for action.

Please share with us what’s important to you on climate change. Whether it’s what you’re already doing, the need for action, or the reasons why it is important to you. We’ll be considering all the responses we receive and might ask you to meet with us to discuss it further.

That’s not all we are doing. We’re making sure our approach and research is right; as well as challenging residents to come up with ways they can make changes to their community, with the offer of support to make them a reality.

These are a really exciting opportunities which we hope will not just improve the environment in Surrey, but make our contribution to combatting global climate change. This matters to all of us, so we urge you to get involved.

Andy Macleod

Chairman of Surrey's Greener Future Task Group