Latest news with #GeraldKelly
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
West Suffolk Council's net zero pledge pushed back by nine years
A council said it had been forced to push its "ambitious" net zero target back by nine years, after conceding a "more realistic plan" was Suffolk Council had hoped to be completely net zero by 2030, having declared a climate emergency in September authority said it had made "significant progress" in reducing its carbon emissions while helping homeowners, businesses and the wider community do the it said due to "elements out of our control" a "more deliverable timeline" had to be established, with a revised target of 2039 being set. 'Being honest is key' Gerald Kelly, independent cabinet member for governance, regulatory and environment, said net zero by 2030 was "an ambitious aim"."Pushing ourselves to hit that target has put us in the strong position we are in today, but due to elements out of our control, we now need a more realistic plan," he said."And being honest about that fact is a key part of maintaining trust in this agenda."Since declaring a climate emergency, the authority said it had prevented at least 7,000 tonnes of carbon consumed by third parties such as homes, businesses and community groups from entering the atmosphere every various schemes, it said it had also helped those struggling with the cost of living to manage energy council's own carbon consumption currently stands at just below 5,000 tonnes each year - 13% lower in absolute terms than in 2019, it also wants to remove a further 1,000 tonnes before 2029 and plant 5,000 trees. Last year, a review of the council's progress towards net zero identified areas for council's Environment and Sustainability Reference Group recommended actions including phasing out gas use in authority buildings and exploring opportunities to set more stringent building to remove gas will soon get under way, after the council was awarded £4.1m from the government to decarbonise its Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill leisure centres. 'Momentum and optimism' Despite the funding, the authority said new national demands meant its target had become harder to cited government-led initiatives such as Simpler Recycling, which will aim to streamline waste collections across England by making councils separate food waste and dry recycling from general waste by the council said this would increase the demand for new waste collection vehicles, which in turn would boost emissions. Despite this, Kelly assured residents net zero would one day become a reality in the west of the county. "The new trajectory includes decarbonising the leisure centres in Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill, installing solar canopies at the Mildenhall Hub car park, to name a few projects," he said."The revised target allows us to keep the momentum and optimism for tackling climate change going and continue to make significant progress." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Locals call for transparency after nuclear drill
People living near a US airbase earmarked to house nuclear weapons say they are being left in the dark about what would happen in the event of a radiation alert. It comes after a drill simulating an accident involving such material was held, with personnel from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk taking part. Nick Timothy, Conservative MP for West Suffolk, said while the US military was "welcome", there needed to be "transparency as far as possible on issues like this exercise". A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said: "Exercise Diamond Dragon demonstrated our preparedness to respond to any incident, no matter how unlikely". The exercise was conducted at nearby RAF Honington. A US Air Force (USAF) spokesman said: "Airmen from the USAF participated in a small-scale, joint emergency response exercise from September 23-25, 2024. "The purpose was to train and evaluate combined emergency response procedures in support of military operations and accidents". The last exercise was held in 2015, after which a report into what lessons had been learned was published. The Suffolk Resilience Forum, which leads on emergency planning in the county, confirmed the scenario in both instances was a simulated crash in the UK of a US aircraft carrying "defence nuclear materials". Lakenheath Parish Council chairman Gerald Kelly said he had been told informally about the latest drill. He said the area had an emergency plan, but added: "There is nothing in there about this sort of incident." The MoD should inform residents "what it wants us to do" if the event of an incident, he said. Mr Kelly called for a siren system to be installed and for the local community to be involved in any future exercises. Last year it emerged RAF Lakenheath was preparing facilities to house and guard nuclear bombs, 15 years after they were removed from the site. The F-35A Lightning II squadron at the base is now certified to carry the B61-12 thermonuclear munition. The UK and Nato have a long-standing policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location. The Defence Nuclear Organisation, which oversees "all defence nuclear business, excluding operations", published guidance in 2021 detailing what local authorities should do in case of a nuclear weapons emergency. One section advised members of the public situated 5km (three miles) downwind of an incident should be evacuated in a 45-degree arc, centred on the wind direction. Parents would also be advised not to try to collect children from school unless told otherwise. "The school authorities will look after them," the document stated. Lakenheath villagers said they did not know about this advice or Exercise Diamond Dragon. David Rolph, who has lived locally for 20 years, said: "I think the local people should be well aware of what we can do if something happened on-base and there isn't any information. There is no noticeboard saying what to do." He endorsed the idea of a siren warning system. Lily Brown, 33, a barber who previously worked at RAF Lakenheath, was not keen on the idea of sirens being installed. "I'd rather not know what's coming," she said. Sally Hunt confirmed she also had received no nuclear safety information, despite living close to Lakenheath for two decades. "If they are going to have nuclear weapons up there, I think we should be aware of it and know that there are safety measures in place," she added. Timothy, who has represented the constituency since last July, said: "We know that exercises like this take place across government, across the military and public services for all sorts of different possibilities all the time." A spokesman for the Suffolk Resilience Forum said it would publish a report on the latest exercise. They added: "This happened in West Suffolk because of the obvious availability and proximity of a suitable location and relevant military personnel. "This exercise is relevant to anywhere in the UK and does not represent a specific threat to our area." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Two arrested at peace protest outside US airbase Police helicopter 'near miss' during drone alert Ministers urged to clarify nuclear deployment Ministry of Defence RAF Lakenheath Suffolk Resilience Forum
BBC News
22-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Locals call for transparency after RAF Lakenheath nuclear drill
People living near a US airbase earmarked to house nuclear weapons say they are being left in the dark about what would happen in the event of a radiation comes after a drill simulating an accident involving such material was held, with personnel from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk taking Timothy, Conservative MP for West Suffolk, said while the US military was "welcome", there needed to be "transparency as far as possible on issues like this exercise".A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said: "Exercise Diamond Dragon demonstrated our preparedness to respond to any incident, no matter how unlikely". The exercise was conducted at nearby RAF Honington. A US Air Force (USAF) spokesman said: "Airmen from the USAF participated in a small-scale, joint emergency response exercise from September 23-25, 2024."The purpose was to train and evaluate combined emergency response procedures in support of military operations and accidents".The last exercise was held in 2015, after which a report into what lessons had been learned was published. The Suffolk Resilience Forum, which leads on emergency planning in the county, confirmed the scenario in both instances was a simulated crash in the UK of a US aircraft carrying "defence nuclear materials".Lakenheath Parish Council chairman Gerald Kelly said he had been told informally about the latest said the area had an emergency plan, but added: "There is nothing in there about this sort of incident."The MoD should inform residents "what it wants us to do" if the event of an incident, he Kelly called for a siren system to be installed and for the local community to be involved in any future exercises. Last year it emerged RAF Lakenheath was preparing facilities to house and guard nuclear bombs, 15 years after they were removed from the F-35A Lightning II squadron at the base is now certified to carry the B61-12 thermonuclear UK and Nato have a long-standing policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location. The Defence Nuclear Organisation, which oversees "all defence nuclear business, excluding operations", published guidance in 2021 detailing what local authorities should do in case of a nuclear weapons section advised members of the public situated 5km (three miles) downwind of an incident should be evacuated in a 45-degree arc, centred on the wind would also be advised not to try to collect children from school unless told otherwise."The school authorities will look after them," the document stated. Lakenheath villagers said they did not know about this advice or Exercise Diamond Rolph, who has lived locally for 20 years, said: "I think the local people should be well aware of what we can do if something happened on-base and there isn't any information. There is no noticeboard saying what to do."He endorsed the idea of a siren warning system. Lily Brown, 33, a barber who previously worked at RAF Lakenheath, was not keen on the idea of sirens being installed. "I'd rather not know what's coming," she Hunt confirmed she also had received no nuclear safety information, despite living close to Lakenheath for two decades."If they are going to have nuclear weapons up there, I think we should be aware of it and know that there are safety measures in place," she added. Timothy, who has represented the constituency since last July, said: "We know that exercises like this take place across government, across the military and public services for all sorts of different possibilities all the time." A spokesman for the Suffolk Resilience Forum said it would publish a report on the latest added: "This happened in West Suffolk because of the obvious availability and proximity of a suitable location and relevant military personnel."This exercise is relevant to anywhere in the UK and does not represent a specific threat to our area." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
