CLIMATE change will be debated by Bromsgrove District Council after pressure from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
A debate on a motion about the issue put forward by Lib Dem councillor Siobhan Hughes at last Wednesday’s full council meeting was denied.
Newly-elected Labour councillor Harrison Rone-Clarke called for the meeting to be extended but the ruling Conservative group voted it down, saying there was not time, due to other discussions taking longer than expected.
Labour leader Coun Michael Thompson called for an urgent climate change meeting and council leader Coun Karen May said, following discussions, the Conservatives had proposed to move the July 31 meeting forward to July 24 so the motion could be fully debated.
Coun Hughes said she was disappointed about the original motion not being discussed but welcomed the time being made on July 24.
“It is also a shame this motion wasn’t brought forward before this date.
“It is not like climate change is a new thing.
“We have all known about the impacts for years, so I do question why it took the Liberal Democrats to get on to the council for this to be brought forward.
“We are pushing for real actions not just words that will make a genuine difference to our environment. “
Coun Rone-Clarke said it was disappointing the motion was not debated last Wednesday as several members of the public had turned up specifically to hear it.
Labour leader Coun Thompson said: “A new meeting is absolutely necessary and I, like many others, believed this motion should have been heard.
“Many of us were prepared to spend the extra time to call for this climate emergency and discuss how we as a council play our part.”
Labour members say they are particularly keen to set specific targets for Bromsgrove District Council to meet by 2030.
Bromsgrove Lib Dem Group leader Rob Hunter said: “The delay means Bromsgrove is now falling behind other local authorities which have already declared a climate emergency and that needs to change.”
One of those was Birmingham City Council, the biggest unitary authority in Europe, which declared its own climate emergency on June 11.
