Cheshire East Council have secured further funding to support their carbon neutral target for four years time.

If our borough council meet the goal, it can mean that their services they provide have no impact on the environment. This may include electric bin vans and decarbonising energy for their buildings.

Although this does not take into account emissions used by residents of Macclesfield, it will mean our local government is leading the way in a carbon emission free future, to help combat climate change.

Cheshire East Council's extra government grant will to support their target of being carbon neutral in its operations by 2025.

The funding, totalling around £2.4 million, has been awarded by the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme operated by Salix.

It is the second round of funding from this scheme that the council has been successful in applying for so far this year.

The funds will be used to decarbonise buildings in the borough, including Macclesfield Town Hall, which will see the installation of an air source heat pump – the first major application of this type of sustainable energy system in a Cheshire East Council building.

It is unknown of the precise timespan this will be implemented into the Macclesfield Market Place local government building.

The grant funding will also support the installation of a heat network in Crewe, which will provide heat from a single source to civic buildings in the town centre, including the Lifestyle Centre and Municipal Buildings.

The projects that this round of funding has been allocated to are set to save about 235 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year – the equivalent of driving over half a million miles in a standard car.

Macclesfield East Councillor Mick Warren, chair of the environment and communities committee, said: "We are committed to taking action to combat climate change, and in becoming carbon neutral in our own operations by 2025.

"This funding will really help to drive forward our plans to reduce the use of carbon in council buildings.

"The projects that this funding will support form part of a wide range of initiatives to tackle the climate emergency in Cheshire East.

"These include significant tree planting across the borough, the development of the North West's first green hydrogen refuelling station, use of green energy from an accredited electricity supplier and other sustainable energy measures in our buildings.

"But we won't stop here – our target of becoming carbon neutral by 2025 is an ambitious one. We will continue to work with our staff, partners and other key stakeholders around the borough to take the action that is needed to protect the future of our planet."

Air pollution is a huge problem in Macclesfield, so even the switching of a few Council vehicles to electric cars may help to reduce our poor air quality. For more info on air pollution in Macc, please find this this webpage.

To find out more about the council's carbon neutral by 2025 ambition, visit the webpage.

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