UPDATE - following the local elections, the review process has restarted and the council have conducted a survey showing strong local concern about climate change.
Read more at the SDC website
Salisbury District Council currently has no climate change policy, Salisbury Friends of the Earth can reveal, and has delayed a review which was intended to make proposals for reducing carbon emissions locally.
In 2006, a council committee began a Climate Change Scrutiny Review which was supposed to conclude by February 2007 with proposals for a policy framework. According to council officers, this review has conducted some research but at a meeting in early March it was decided that substantive progress and recommendations would have to wait until after the May 2007 local elections.
This leaves the council lagging way behind other authorities such as Woking and Merton which have established reputations as leaders in energy savings and carbon reduction. Simple measures such as more efficient lighting and heating have been shown to slash energy waste, bringing cash savings for council taxpayers as well as benefits for the environment.
The lack of progress on practical policies comes despite Salisbury's gesture in signing up to the Nottingham Declaration (PDF 150kB) along with more than 100 other authorities. Adopted by full council in May 2006, the declaration stresses the urgency of tackling climate change and promises tough action, including developing a plan to cut the council's own greenhouse gas emissions. It remains to be seen if this declaration is anything more than hot air as far as SDC is concerned.