Trafford Council’s Labour leader has welcomed cross-party support for work to reduce harmful emissions in and around Trafford Park.

Cllr Andrew Western tabled a motion at Full Council recently where members agreed on three key actions under the umbrella of ‘Future Trafford Park’ including a Low Carbon Park, Greening Trafford Park and Trafford Wharfside Development.

During the debate Cllr Western, Executive Member for Sustainability and Climate Change and Green City Region Lead, acknowledged there are steps that can be taken in order to facilitate change that will result in a greener future.

“This need is particularly acute at the home of Trafford Park – a key economic centre in the north-west region and also a major driver of carbon emissions in Trafford,” said Cllr Western.

“Therefore, in order to urgently deal with the Climate Crisis in a meaningful way we must first tackle emissions from business and industrial practices in this borough.

“That is why I have always been a supporter of a Green New Deal that will help transition our economy and take the workforce and employers on the same journey.

“If we don’t begin to make progress towards a greener future, particularly in Trafford, we are not going to tackle the Climate Crisis in a significant way.”

The vision is to develop carbon neutral forms of power generation, invest in a green economy while identifying ways existing businesses can reduce their carbon footprint.

Cllr Jill Acton, who represents Davyhulme East ward, called for everyone to take responsibility for their actions when it comes to climate emissions.

She said: “We’ve just had such a heartbreakingly disappointing COP26 result with its watered down commitment for nations to increase efforts towards phasing down, rather than phasing out, unabated coal and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.

“This is despite the fact that we are currently heading towards a global temperature increase of 2.4 degrees, which would have catastrophic consequences in terms of extreme weather events.”

Cllr Axford, added: “We all need to take responsibility for our actions regarding climate emissions.

“Working towards a ‘Future Trafford Park and Just Transition to a Greener Economy’ will start our journey of targeting the carbon emissions and facilitate the creation of numerous green jobs.

“It’s too late to write well-meaning pledges, it’s too late to set yet more targets.  We absolutely need real tangible action such as this right now.”

Image with no changes via: Keith Williamson.

Link to image: https://bit.ly/3ptr2S8