Wiltshire Council has rejected a motion to ditch the local authority’s carbon reduction targets.
At a meeting on Tuesday, council members voted against a motion brought forward by Reform UK councillors, Cllr Ed Rimmer and Cllr Chris Vaughan, which opposed the climate targets established by the local authority in 2019.
Cllr Rimmer and Cllr Vaughan's motion said: ‘This council should not be constrained by a motion demanding unachievable county-wide 2030 carbon reduction targets as set out in the 'climate emergency motion' and so repudiates it.’
However, council members voted against the move, which was ‘rejected by 45 votes to 23, with 19 abstentions’.
Cllr Paul Sample JP, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Environment, Climate and Waste, commented that he was ‘delighted’ council members rejected the motion.
Cllr Sample said: ‘Our programme of climate action has made demonstrable financial savings since its introduction, so it is disappointing that this motion was brought forward.
‘We are fully committed to making the council carbon neutral by 2030 and to helping the county to become carbon neutral by 2030 - and we have made huge progress over recent years', he added.
The vote follows an announcement about climate targets made by leader of the Reform Party, Nigel Farage, who earlier this month suggested that Reform-led councils should scrap their net zero initiatives.
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