The combined £5.5 million spend on the two projects in the next financial year makes up around 8% of the council’s entire budget, as it looks to “tackle climate change at local level”.
At the meeting to confirm the budget, councillor approved the £4.2 million plan to install a solar farm at the Waterbeach depot of Greater Cambridge Shared Waste, the council’s shared waste service with Cambridge city council.
This comes after the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority indicated last month that it would provide an additional £2.7 million in funding towards the work, “subject to additional checks such as value for money assurances” (see letsrecycle.com story).
RCVs
The farm would power the council’s growing electric waste fleet.
In 2020, the Greater Cambridge Shared Waste Service began using Cambridgeshire’s first electric RCV, a Dennis Eagle eCollect which cost around £400,000 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Two more electric bin lorries are due to begin working across South Cambridgeshire and the city of Cambridge by the end of March this year.
The council has now also set aside £1.3 million towards “equipment and activities to help tackle climate change at Greater Cambridge Shared Waste, such as the purchase of new electric bin lorries”.
This move comes after it has previously warned it would not have sufficient access to power to charge it’s proposed number of electric vehicles in its fleet.
A spokesperson for South Cambridgeshire told letsrecycle.com that it had existing planning permission for the Waterbeach site.
However, the council says it will speak to the local planning authority to see “how best to proceed” as it looks to develop its plans.
The council may need to submit a new planning application, the spokesperson said, but it is “too early to say”.
Meeting
The Council’s budget for 2022/23 was discussed during a full council meeting on 22 February.
The council collects recycling and waste from around 66,000 households across South Cambridgeshire and also handles thousands of planning applications every year.
I am incredibly proud of this budget
- Cllr John Williams
‘Proud’
South Cambridgeshire district council’s lead cabinet member for finance, Cllr John Williams, said: “I am incredibly proud of this budget. Despite the financial pressure councils up and down the country are under, we have been able to place taking action to tackle climate change on a very local level firmly at the centre of our plans.
“This is proof we are backing up our declaration of climate and ecological emergencies with real action. At a time when many Councils are struggling, we have a very healthy financial position and are delivering improving services despite having one of the lowest Council Tax bases in the country”.
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