http://waveney.greenparty.org.uk/

Halesworth Greens, Halesworth (2026)

15/06/2026

08/06/2026

Clear words from John Taylor

July 16th midday Endeavour House, Ipswich.

We protest the rescinding of the climate emergency declaration.

02/06/2026

📰 Council moves to axe ‘climate emergency’ and will begin review into ‘green’ projects

🟢 Climate emergency declaration ready to be scrapped
🟢 All net-zero schemes facing immediate review
🟢 £175,000 annual saving already identified on electricity costs

Suffolk County Council plans to scrap its climate emergency declaration and overhaul environmental spending, putting common sense and value for money first.

The declaration made under the previous administration in March 2019, looks set to be formally reversed at the next full council meeting on 16 July 2026.

Alongside this, the council’s new administration will launch an immediate, council-wide audit of all environmental projects.

Schemes will be expected to demonstrate clear benefits, practical outcomes, or real savings in order to continue. Any that don’t could be stopped, with money reinvested elsewhere.

Data and projections also show that the council’s targets to be ‘net zero’ by 2030 are many years away from being achieved, if at all.

Early action has already identified an annual saving of up to £175,000 by switching the council’s electricity tariff to a cheaper one - ending a costly “100% renewable” premium which the council currently pays.

Councillor Michael Hadwen, leader of Suffolk County Council said:

“Our job is simple - spend Suffolk taxpayers’ money wisely and deliver real results for our residents.

“What we’ve inherited is a catalogue of expensive, headline-grabbing environmental schemes that need to stand up to proper and rigorous scrutiny if they’re going to continue.

“Suffolk has fantastic landscapes, strong farming roots and outstanding local food. That’s our real environment and I want to make sure we look after it properly and improve it where we can.

“We are simply taking a common-sense approach - backing practical measures that work, while cutting waste, unnecessary costs and superficial gesture schemes.

“Paying an extra £175,000 a year just to sit on a ‘green’ tariff is a perfect example of virtue signalling at taxpayers’ expense. We’re ending that as soon as possible.

“In under two weeks of our leadership, we’ve already found significant savings. This is just the start. Every pound we save is a pound we can reinvest in frontline services and the priorities that matter most to Suffolk people.”