Climate change strategy and action plan

We recognise the need for swift and decisive action to tackle climate change. 

We will work with our partners, schools, and communities to make Redcar and Cleveland a carbon neutral borough by 2030.

Our vision for sustainable carbon neutrality across the borough is set out in our Climate Change Strategy.  Our Climate Change Action Plan sets out how we will deliver this vision.

Our Strategy and Action Plan are available to download.

What we're doing

Electric Vehicle Charging

We are committed to reducing carbon emissions and supporting residents, businesses, and visitors to use electric vehicles (EVs). We recognise that access to EV charging is needed and lack of access to on-street EV charging may be inconvenient for some drivers.

We are working to increase public access to EV chargers in Redcar & Cleveland and develop safe ways for drivers to access on-street charging.

You can find your nearest public EV charger by viewing our map of EV chargers in the borough.

Some charge points are operated by Zapcharged and some are operated by Electric Blue. You can pay for charging using the charge point operator’s app. Apps can be downloaded from App Store and Play Store. Electric Blue charging points also offer contactless payment.

You can suggest a location for public EV chargers by emailing GreenerFuture@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk.

 

On-street electric vehicle charging

Please note this information is not legal advice. You should get independent legal advice if you need it.

There are no laws clearly covering on-street electric vehicle charging. If you place a cable across the pavement or road, you may put other road users at risk, which is an offence under highway laws. The highway includes roads and pavements.

We advise EV users without their own off-street charging to use public charging facilities to charge their EVs safely. We do not advise trailing cables across the highway, including the pavement, even where some kind of protective cover is used. You should never block the highway to charge EVs on-street as this may make it difficult for emergency services and others to get around.

If you charge EVs on-street, you risk committing an offence.


Individual responsibilities under highways law

Do not block the highway. A vehicle must not block the highway or cause an obstruction to other highway users, including emergency vehicles and refuse vehicles.

When an EV is being charged, the vehicle owner is responsible for making sure any cables crossing a public space or highway are not a risk to other highway users, including pedestrians. When an EV is charging it is likely to be classed as ‘in use’ and if someone suffers damage or injury because a charging EV, or its charging cable is placed dangerously, an insurance claim may be raised by the injured party, against the vehicle owner and their insurer.

Decarbonising Homes

Our Warm & Well service has helped residents access grants to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes.

Council Buildings

The internal and external lighting at a number of Council buildings has been upgraded to LED and more effective heating and building management systems have also been installed. A high proportion of smart meters and effective energy management processes have enabled usage and energy wastage to be minimised. We are commencing installation of air source heat pumps and solar panels on a number of buildings.  

Council Fleet

The Council has replaced 5% of its fleet vehicles with fully electric equivalents and will increase this to around 20% by the end of 2022. We are continuing to trial new zero emissions vehicles and will add these to our fleet once trials are successful. 

Tree Planting

We are committed to enhancing our already beautiful natural environment. Between 2014 and 2019 we planted more than 4000 new trees which will have the effect of removing more than half a ton of Co2 from the air in the borough once they reach semi-maturity.

Streetlights

We have replaced more than 15,000 streetlights across the borough with low consumption LED units. In some areas these are dimmed at certain points during the night to reduce consumption even further. The lights will reduce carbon emissions by more than 1200 tons every year and will require more than 53% less electricity to power them.

Energy Recovery

Along with partner local authorities in the north east, the Council has embarked on the establishment of a £300 million Energy From Waste facility in the borough. This will utilise waste from 1.5 million residents around the north to generate electricity which can be fed back into the grid.

Net Zero Teesside

The Net Zero Teesside programme aims to create the UK’s first decarbonised industrial cluster through the development of a full scale Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) scheme. This technology is intended to remove considerable amounts of carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere to be stored underground. The site for Net Zero Teesside, set within the boundaries of Redcar & Cleveland will serve a dual purpose, generating large amounts of clean power (the carbon outputs from which will be captured) as well as capturing large amounts of carbon from industrial processes around the area. Phase 1 of the project is scheduled to be operational by 2026, at which point it will remove 2 million tons of Co2 from local industry. At the point of completion, the project will remove a total of 10 million ton of Co2 from local industry and from the onsite power plant.

Introducing:

Glenn Kemp

One resident who is doing his part is Glenn Kemp (pictured) who has a Hybrid Honda Jazz car and has replaced all his household lights with energy-saving LED lightbulbs. He said: “Both myself and my wife are very energy conscious and want to do our bit to improve the environment but also benefit from saving money in the process.

“Having changed all our lights in the house to LED bulbs our electricity bill has reduced by around 30%. We have also installed a condensing combi boiler which is much more efficient and saves us up to 20% on our gas bill.

“We have become much more aware of our energy usage and my wife has even started to cook three meals at a time to make the best use of the oven and cooker and save energy.

“My advice to other residents would be to look for the energy efficiency rating when you change your household goods as the cost saving to you and the benefit to the environment can be a lot more than you think – small changes really can make a big difference.”

"Both myself and my wife are very energy conscious and want to do our bit to improve the environment but also benefit from saving money in the process."

Introducing:

Julie Knight

ONE keen recycler, Julie Knight, gave her support to the strategy and encouraged others to get involved.

She said: “Recycling is really important to our household, if it’s not re-used in a craft project with the grandkids then it’s thrown in the recycling bin.”

The green conscious Redcar resident explained she uses an energy supplier that gets its electricity from 100% renewables – and even feeds the pet guinea pigs any food waste she can!