Details: Written by Super User; Category: News; Published: 08 September 2024; Hits: 1824

Rising dramatically from the Cheshire Plain, the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge is a unique landscape covering 230 sq km of rolling hills and sandstone escarpments, punctuated with glacial meres and mosses and stretching from Frodsham in the north to Malpas in the south. The Ridge attracts thousands of visitors every year, and recently the area has been shortlisted for potential Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) status. To support the process for obtaining AONB and to provide insights into who visits the Sandstone Ridge and why, the Sandstone Ridge Trust, in partnership with the University of Chester, is currently undertaking a Visitor Survey. (This project is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund). The aim is simple – we need to get as large a sample as possible of people who visit the ridge, but also importantly those who don’t.

The online survey takes around 5 minutes to complete, and the data gathered is entirely anonymous. Please click here to access the survey Sandstone Ridge Visitor Survey. Deadline for completion is 30^th September 2024.

The final survey report and findings will be published in early 2025 on the Sandstone Ridge Trust Website: https://www.sandstoneridge.org.uk/

Details: Written by Super User; Category: News; Published: 24 August 2024; Hits: 1847

August 2024

Second round of Solar Together scheme launches in Cheshire

Residents in Cheshire have another opportunity to join together to invest in renewable energy through a group-buying scheme for solar panels and battery storage. Last year, over 220 residents benefited from the Solar Together scheme in west Cheshire, and now the scheme has reopened to help more homeowners generate clean energy. People who registered ahead of the 18 October will receive a free personal recommendation for their property, including costs and details of the most suitable solar photovoltaic (PV) system.

Help shape plans to tackle the impacts of climate change

There is just over a week to share your thoughts on how the Council can continue to tackle the impacts of climate change. The Council is running an early-stage engagement activity to seek the views of residents, and other partners across the borough, as it develops the Climate Emergency Response Plan for the borough for the 2025-2030 period. Have your say on any of the six themes that the plan will focus on before Sunday, 1 September. A formal consultation on the draft plan will take place in the autumn.

Provide your feedback on Climate Emergency action in the borough

Fully-funded Home Upgrade Grants available for homes not heated by mains gas

As we head towards the cooler autumn months and our attention turns to keeping our homes warm over the winter period, now is a great time to look into energy efficient grants you maybe eligible to apply for. The Council’s Home Upgrade Grant is fully funded for eligible homeowners whose heating is not supplied by mains gas and offers a variety of energy efficient improvements to help reduce energy bills, improve health and wellbeing and lower carbon emissions.

Find out more about the scheme and how to apply

Help support proposals for a Chester repair café

Chester Friends of the Earth is looking to start a repair café in Chester. Repair cafés are pop-up events held on regular dates where the local community can get their broken household items repaired for free or for a small donation by volunteers. The group is raising funding for the project through the crowdfunding platform Cheshire West Crowd. So far they’ve received over 50% of pledges to reach their funding target, which will help to reduce the amount of items ending up in landfill.

Find out more about the initiative and make a pledge

Get around for £2 until 31 December 2024

The scheme that encouraged passengers to ‘Get Around for £2’ by bus has been extended to 31 December 2024. All bus operators participating in the original campaign will continue to do so. Cheshire West and Chester Council has worked with operators to encourage as many as possible to participate, although some services will not be eligible.

Journeys starting in Wales are not eligible for the scheme, however local concessions have been introduced by some operators.

Check to see if your bus operator is taking part

image of Ellesmere Port industrial area at night

Understanding what industrial decarbonisation means to local people

Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington, which support economic growth in the region, is working with public, private and voluntary organisations on a project to better understand the views of residents and businesses on industrial decarbonisation projects in the area. The first step of this project is to run a series of focus groups to gauge understanding and sentiment about ideas like industrial decarbonisation and net zero. If you are interested in getting involved get in touch with them by the 6 September.

Find out more about the focus groups and how to sign up

Local eco events taking place in the next month

Local sustainability group, Eco Communities has compiled a list of eco events taking place in the borough during August and September. Events range from the regular ‘People, Planet, Pint’ catch ups - for anyone who cares for the planet to come together to chat about climate action, to film screenings of environmental films. Chester Zoo has its fantastic Wildlife Connections event taking place on 14 and 15 September and the Winsford Salt Fair, which has received support from the Eco Communities team to make their operations more sustainable, also takes place on Saturday 14 September .

Council’s on-demand rural bus service celebrates its first birthday

The Council’s on-demand rural bus service, which aims to improve connectivity in some of the more remote parts of the borough, has celebrated its first birthday recently. The itravel service, which began on 31 July 2023, has clocked up an impressive 11,311 journeys with over 15,000 passengers jumping on board. The service is playing its part to help reduce car dependency, connect communities and reduce social isolation, as well as helping the borough reach its net zero targets.

Trees planted at ice cream farm as part of agroforestry scheme

A popular ice cream farm in Cheshire is set to introduce more flavours to its menu thanks to a selection of fruit and nut trees that have been planted on their farm this year as part of a wider agroforestry project. Funding through The Mersey Forest’s Trees for Climate programme was used to support Snugburys to plant over 2,300 trees on their 45ha farm in Cheshire. The tree planting season runs from October to March each year and The Mersey Forest is continuing to urge landowners with suitable land for planting to get in touch.

Student shortlisted for major national environmental award

Laura Tuckey, a soon-to-be graduate from the University of Chester has been shortlisted in the Sustainability Champion of the Year – Student category in the highly respected Green Gown UK and Ireland Awards. The awards recognise the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across the world. Laura was nominated by the University’s Sustainability Team to recognise her dedication to giving students access to sustainability-related opportunities.

July 2024

Climate Emergency Response Plan engagement

Help shape plans to tackle the impacts of climate change

People across west Cheshire are being asked to share their thoughts on how the Council can continue to tackle the impacts of climate change.

The Council’s Climate Emergency Response Plan was launched in 2021 and now needs to be renewed for the 2025-2030 period. An early-stage engagement activity will seek the views of residents, and other partners across the borough, and the results will enable priorities and actions to be co-produced with communities. It will be followed by a formal consultation in the autumn on a draft plan.

Provide your feedback on the Climate Emergency in west Cheshire

Image showing CO2 symbol and held in someone's hand

Latest data shows over 20% drop in carbon emissions

The latest available data from The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), published in June 2024, shows a significant drop in carbon emissions in west Cheshire in 2022. Greenhouse gas emissions in the borough stood at 4.021 million tons in 2021. These reduced to 3.201 million tons in 2022. This represents a 20.4% year-on-year drop in carbon emissions.

Community set to benefit following bumper tree planting season

Generations of communities across Cheshire and Merseyside will benefit from the creation of new woodland across The Mersey Forest, following a bumper tree planting season over the winter. Over 264 hectares of woodland have been planted across Merseyside and Cheshire, the equivalent of 380 football pitches. The Mersey Forest continues to look for areas of land that would be suitable for tree planting.

Funding for energy efficient home improvements available through ECO4 scheme

Eligible residents in west Cheshire could benefit from the Energy Companies Obligation scheme that aims to help households cut energy bills and reduce carbon emissions. Referred to as ECO4, the scheme will target some of the borough’s most inefficient homes to provide insulation and clean-heat technologies.

Castle Park Arts Centre runs successful crowdfunding campaign

The Cheshire West Crowd has helped Castle Park Arts Centre successfully crowdfund solar panels, reducing energy costs and helping the environment at the same time. A crowdfunding initiative run by Cheshire West and Chester Council in partnership with Spacehive, the Cheshire West Crowd allows everyone to put forward community-led projects and attract funding, creating a stronger future where we all play our part in thriving, caring and sustainable communities.

View the sustainable house at Cheshire College’s Ellesmere Port campus

Cheshire College is just one local organisation that is helping the borough to tackle the Climate Emergency and create greener, more sustainable communities. The college has built a fully functioning sustainable house, aimed at giving students hands-on experience with sustainable technologies, at their Ellesmere Port campus. The house addresses the ever-increasing demand for environmentally friendly properties, as well as the skills gap in sustainable construction methods.

Watch a video showing you around the college’s sustainable house

New insights discovered on the minds of squirrels and impact of urban life

The impact of the urban environment on squirrels’ problem-solving, learning and memory has been highlighted in new research from the UK’s University of Chester and Hokkaido University in Japan. In one of the few studies that joins ecology and psychology to look at the animal mind in the wild, researchers have examined how stressful urban environmental characteristics are for squirrels and discovered they have a greater effect on cognitive performance than previously shown.

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