Environment
Challenging new carbon reduction target
Maidstone Borough Council has set a challenging new target to reduce its carbon emissions by 3% a year.  The decision is a response to the government’s new stance on reducing emissions.
 
Total carbon dioxide emissions from the council’s buildings, lighting and vehicles amounted to 5,600 tonnes in 2006-07.  If the council meets its target the council will have achieved a 20% reduction in that figure by 2015-16 (to 4529 tonnes CO2) and a 30% reduction by 2020-21 (3889 tonnes CO2).
 
The new targets replace a previous aim to be carbon neutral. The new targets are in line with other leading authorities, including Kent County Council, which aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 10 per cent by 2010 and by 20 per cent by 2015. 
 
Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding explains: “It’s better because we will be concentrating on achieving a real reduction in our carbon emissions.
 
“The Cabinet made the change because becoming carbon neutral doesn’t necessarily mean that you will reduce the emissions you produce. We could become carbon neutral at a stroke by paying up to £100,000 to offset the emissions we produce.  But this way, by concentrating on reducing our emissions we will be consuming less energy and saving money at the same time”
 
Progress towards the new targets will be reported to the cabinet every six months and will take into account changing scientific advice and government direction.
 
Mark Wooding is confident that although the target has changed the council is working along the right lines and the overall aim of addressing climate change remains.   He said: “The carbon neutral target proved unachievable without significant and costly offsetting and was set at a time when we hadn’t fully analysed our carbon footprint.  The government is in the process of setting new targets and providing new advice on reducing emissions. Our new target is more in line with these, real and achievable and sets us on a robust path towards a low carbon future.”
 
Maidstone council is developing a corporate Environmental Management System to collect and analyse a range of environmental data, to assist in target and objective setting and to bring measurable improvements in environmental efficiency and performance for the future.
 		  
   

Conservation team help complete census
Maidstone Borough Council is taking part in a national review of conservation areas.
 
Launched by English Heritage, the results of the Conservation Area Census will inform policies implemented to improve the management of historic areas. These areas will then become part of Heritage at Risk Assessments in 2009.
 
Maidstone council’s conservation team has been out across the borough conducting the census on 41 different conservation areas.
 
Part of the census includes assessing each area for its sense of general character, the proportion of listed buildings to the overall number of properties, the record of enforcement actions taken and evidence of community support for conservation. 
 
The team has also rated the impact of certain conditions and threats to areas of conservation within the borough. These include the loss of historic details like doors, windows, chimneys and building materials, and loss of character due to advertisements, street clutter, highway works, development pressures and lack of investment.
 
The Conservation Area Appraisals complement a more in-depth study already in progress at the council. The appraisal will be used to develop individual Management Plans and they will serve as policy documents to advise the council, developers, and the public on how and where developments should take place in each area. It will also advise how best to preserve and enhance their special character. The appraisals are ongoing and six have been completed so far and will continue throughout November. 
 
For more information contact the Landscape and Conservation team on 01622 602340 or visit www.digitalmaidstone.co.uk

  
   
Team clean mean business
Armed with litter picks and sacks Captain Clean hit the streets of Maidstone on Tuesday (October 28) to rid the streets of litter and to encourage groups and individuals to organise clean sweeps of their own.
 
The autumn campaign got off to a gleaming start with Captain Clean and his helpers, including Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Denise Joy, Cabinet Member for the environment, Cllr Mark Wooding, Leader of the council, Cllr Chris Garland and other council representatives.
 
The group met in the small car park next to Maidstone East train station and spent the morning filling their sacks with litter, from main footpaths surrounding the station.
 
Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding, said: “The support for Captain Clean was wonderful and the autumn launch of the campaign has got off to a great start. We continue to pursue a zero tolerance enforcement campaign against the irresponsible few who disfigure our town and countryside with litter and fly-tipping. Following the success of this campaign I would urge as many people as possible to help support Captain Clean and join his crusade to make our borough clean and litter free.”
 
The council will provide equipment for anyone who wishes to arrange their own clean sweeps simply call Alison Sollis at Maidstone council on 01622 602281 for more information.
 
To view a video of the Clean Sweep Launch log onto www.youtube.com/user/maidstonecouncil		  
 
Rare snail spotted on a slippery trail through the town
A globally endangered snail has been discovered living in the centre of Maidstone.
 
The colony of Desmoulin’s whorl snail (Vertigo moulinsiana) was discovered on the banks of the River Len next to the Wat Tyler Way fly-over and Sainsbury car park.
 
Until recently this species was only known in Kent as a fossil but a colony has been discovered at Westbere Marshes in the east of the County.  This snail is legally protected on a European scale and is subject to a ‘UK Biodiversity Action Plan’ designed to protect its vulnerable wetland habitats.
 
The colony of rare snails was discovered within Maidstone Borough Council’s River Len Nature Reserve by Cllr Tony Harwood and the former curator of natural history at Maidstone Museum Eric Philp in July. Expert scientific advice sought to confirm identification of the snails has only just been received.
 
Cabinet Member for Leisure Cllr Brian Moss said: “The council has taken a great interest in this small but important nature reserve alongside the River Len. I am pleased our efforts have been noted by the sight of this snail.”
 
Cllr Harwood added: “This exciting discovery comes hot on the heels of a sighting of a rare damselfly by the River Len and confirms the huge value to wildlife and people of urban wild-space. It is a remarkable fact that the people of Maidstone share their town centre with one of the rarest creatures in Europe.”		  
 
Fortnightly collection is wheeling itself this way by
May next year(2009)
With 20,000 homes in Maidstone already using the new fortnightly recycling service, Maidstone Borough Council can announce that the whole borough will receive the service by May 2009 and everyone is keeping a weekly rubbish collection.
 
The improved recycling collection for paper, cardboard, plastics, tins and cans will be rolled out across Maidstone.
 
Phase two, which has about 26,000 residents within it, will be complete by February 2009 and the final phase, of about 13,000 residents will be finished in May.
 
Most households will be getting a new 190 litre grey bin for their weekly rubbish collection, which will not change, and residents will be asked to use their existing green bins for their fortnightly recycling collections.
 
Special arrangements will be made for people who don’t have wheelie bins or space for a second bin. Garden waste will continue to be collected fortnightly in the same containers as usual. Maidstone council will be writing to residents before they receive the new service.
 
Cabinet member for the environment, Cllr Mark Wooding said: “This is good news for the borough because by May next year residents will have a recycling service right on their doorstep. There will be no excuse not to recycle.”		  
 
New recycling bins for Maidstone town centre

Maidstone town centre visitors no longer have to throw away their drinks cans, plastic bottles and newspapers. Maidstone Borough Council is installing ten special recycling bins in the town centre so that shoppers can throw away their paper, cans and plastic bottles with a clear conscience that they will be recycled.
   The new recycling bins, now being rolled out, will be sited next to existing waste bins to make it easy for shoppers to put the right things in the correct bin.
   Sacks from the recycling and the waste bins will be collected at the same time but the recycling sacks will then be separated and the materials sent away for recycling.
Another two bins will be installed in Coxheath parade.