6 January 2019
Here’s an idea for a New Year’s resolution – do your bit to put Swindon at the forefront of the fight against catastrophic climate change.
Since November, when I wrote to all Swindon Borough councillors asking them to support a motion to declare a climate emergency in Swindon, things have slowly been moving in the right direction.
Thank you to those who have already been in touch with their councillors. Because of you, councillors from each of the parties on the council - Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat, have offered their support, and it will be debated by the Council on the 24th of January. But there is more to do to make sure we get enough votes for this to pass.
If you haven’t already done so, please contact your local councillors and ask them to support the motion when it comes before council?
Below is a sample letter and contact details for your councillors. You can find out which ward you are in by entering your post code here.
For some more information, you can find out more about my original letter to them or see a copy of the draft motion.
The 24th is close, so please get in touch with them as soon as you can and let them know how important this is. If you get a response, please let me know what they say so I know who we still need to convince.
Also, please consider coming along to show your support in the public gallery on the night. This could be a landmark date in Swindon's history.
The seas are rising, and so must we.
Andy Bentley
Sample Letter:
(If you can personalise this, even better)
Dear councillor,
Will you help me put Swindon at the forefront of the fight against catastrophic climate change?
I’d like to enlist your support for a motion that will be debated at the next Council meeting on the 24th of January, which has already received offers of support from members of each of the three parties on the Council.
At his recent address to the United Nations, Sir David Attenborough said that climate change is humanity's greatest threat in thousands of years, which could lead to the collapse of civilisations and the extinction of "much of the natural world".
He spoke following the latest report from the IPCC, in which the world’s scientists again described the enormous harm that rising temperatures is likely to cause.
The motion will recognise the serious threat that global warming poses, not only to faraway places or in many years to come but to the UK, in our lifetimes.
According to the UK Government, even if global temperature increases are limited to 2°C or less, there are projected to be impacts for the UK. More flooding in wet periods, more droughts in dry periods, and thousands more premature heat-related deaths every year.
The IPCC report also tells us that limiting global warming to 1.5°C may still be possible with urgent and immediate action from national and local governments, civil society, the private sector and local communities.
The consequences of global temperature rising above 1.5°C are so severe that preventing this from happening must be humanity’s number one priority, but individuals cannot do this on their own.
City and Town Councils around the world are responding to the climate crisis by committing to the changes needed to make low-carbon living the new norm.
The motion will recognise the vision of Swindon as the home to low-carbon employment and R&D as set out in our Local Plan 2026, along with its focus on sustainable energy.
Swindon should be in the vanguard of the transition to a zero-carbon economy, delivering economic benefits to Swindon in terms of new jobs and market opportunities.
The motion will call on the Council to declare a ‘Climate Emergency’, and to set an ambitious target to make the borough of Swindon carbon neutral.
It will recognise the need for new powers and resources from central government, and for the Council to work with national and regional governments and local partners to make it possible.
It will call on the Leader of the Council to draw up a plan of action for the Council to address this emergency.
Please support the motion coming to the Council meeting on January 24th. We are the first generation to fully understand the consequences of global warming, and the last who have the chance to prevent the coming global catastrophe.
I hope I can count on you.
Councillor Contact Details:
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Ward |
Name |
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Blunsdon & Highworth |
Councillor Alan Bishop |
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Councillor Maureen Penny |
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Councillor Steve Weisinger |
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Central |
Councillor Bob Wright |
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Councillor Julie Wright |
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Councillor Junab Ali |
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Chiseldon & Lawn |
Councillor Brian Mattock |
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Councillor Fionuala Foley |
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Covingham & Dorcan |
Councillor Barbara Parry |
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Councillor Dale Heenan |
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Councillor Kevin Parry |
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Eastcott |
Councillor Imtiyaz Shaikh |
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Councillor Paul Dixon |
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Councillor Stan Pajak |
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Gorsehill & Pinehurst |
Councillor Carol Shelley |
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Councillor John Ballman |
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Councillor Ray Ballman |
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Haydon Wick |
Councillor David Renard |
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Councillor Garry Perkins |
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Councillor Oliver Donachie |
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Liden, Eldene & Park South |
Councillor Chris Watts |
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Councillor Fay Howard |
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Councillor Janine Howarth |
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Lydiard & Freshbrook |
Councillor Caryl Sydney-Smith |
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Councillor Matthew Courtliff |
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Councillor Timothy Swinyard |
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Mannington & Western |
Councillor James Robbins |
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Councillor Kevin Small |
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Councillor Stephanie Exell |
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Old Town |
Councillor Claire Ellis |
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Councillor Jane Milner-Barry |
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Councillor Nadine Watts |
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Penhill & Upper Stratton |
Councillor Claire Crilly |
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Councillor Mark Dempsey |
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Councillor Teresa Page |
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Priory Vale |
Councillor Emma Faramarzi |
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Councillor Malcolm Davies |
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Councillor Toby Elliott |
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Ridgeway |
Councillor Gary Sumner |
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Rodbourne Cheney |
Councillor Des Moffatt |
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Councillor Jim Grant |
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Councillor Peter Watts |
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Shaw |
Councillor Keith Williams |
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Councillor Mary Martin |
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Councillor Nick Martin |
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St Andrews |
Councillor Mary Friend |
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Councillor Rahul Tarar |
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Councillor Vera Tomlinson |
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St Margaret & South Marston |
Councillor John Haines |
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Councillor Roger Smith |
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Councillor Russell Holland |
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Walcot & Park North |
Councillor Abdul Amin |
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Councillor Emma Bushell |
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Councillor Steve Allsopp |
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Wroughton & Wichelstowe |
Councillor Andy Spry |
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Councillor Brian Ford |
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Councillor Cathy Martyn |
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