The Environmental Agenda
The Corporate Projects and Performance Team at South Bedfordshire District Council co-ordinate the Council’s Environmental Agenda and can be contacted by telephone on 0845 849 6090 or e-mail councilplan@southbeds.gov.uk.
What are we doing to protect the environment?
We have committed to valuing the environment through our Environmental Policy, first printed in 2000 and reviewed regularly. The policy covers such subjects as energy, waste, transport, use of natural resources and pollution. It also tells you how we take account of the environment in the day to day running of our services.
The Environmental Policy is put into practice through our environmental management system.
In January 2008, the Council agreed to move forward from the EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) accreditation and sign up to the wider “Nottingham Declaration”.
Our commitment to the “Nottingham Declaration”
The Nottingham Declaration is a voluntary pledge made by Councils to their communities to address the issues of climate change. The declaration means that the council has pledged to:
- Acknowledge the effects of climate change.
- Recognise the benefits which can be achieved through combating climate change.
- Commit the council to certain actions towards reducing the effects, and causes, of climate change.
For more details and to see our signed declaration please go to our Nottingham Declaration page.
Prior to signing up to the Nottingham Declaration the council achieved EMAS accreditation. EMAS is a European standard which requires us to manage our activities in a way that limits negative environmental impact, and enhances positive impact. We were independently assessed and published our progress in the form of a public environmental statement.
To see what was involved you can view our 2005/06 Environment Statement (PDF 70.7KB). Our previous statement for 2004/05 is also available 2004/05 Environmental Statement (PDF 1.68MB).
Although South Bedfordshire District Council is no longer seeking external validation through EMAS verification we will continue to maintain and monitor an improvement plan so that we can demonstrate the impact of our actions.
How to find out more about our environmental work
You can find out more about specific areas that we are involved in using the links below:
- Corporate Environmental Policy - This tells you more about our policies to be more environmentally aware.
- Environmental Aims - This page gives details of our environmental aims which are a result of our policy.
- Our 2006/07 Environmental Improvement Plan (PDF 703KB)
- Green Travel Plan (PDF 532.3KB) - Our Green Travel Plan shows how we encourage our employees to commute using more environmentally friendly methods.
- For information about the Eastex Materials Exchange for the East of England (PDF 1.2MB)
Contact
If you would like to find out more about our Environmental Agenda work, or, if you have ideas or comments, please contact:
Corporate Project and Performance Team,
South Bedfordshire District Council,
The District Offices,
High Street North,
Dunstable,
Bedfordshire, LU6 1LF
Telephone: 0845 849 6090
