COLUMN: Happy third birthday to the Horsham District Community Climate Fund

By Cllr Colette Blackburn as printed in the Thursday, 09 September 2023, print edition of the West Sussex County Times

I really believe that Horsham has some of the most climate conscious residents in the country. Our communities are full of people who have decided to take matters into their own hands, in the best way they can, in order to promote nature recovery and counteract climate change. It is an immense privilege, having been elected to Horsham District Council in May, to be able to help with these efforts by steering the Council towards greater carbon reduction and nature recovery in order to ensure a healthier way of life for all of us.

It is clear that Horsham’s residents wish to act now with regard to our polluted rivers, disappearing wildlife and our collective carbon output. A climate emergency was declared earlier in the year so that we can put real effort into meeting the target of the District being carbon neutral by 2050, alongside restoring good health and diversity to our countryside.

The Council has been working hard to support local communities with climate action for some years now and great progress has been made. It now wants to accelerate this great progress and encourage even more action.

The Horsham District Community Climate Fund will be three years old this autumn and we thought it a good time to look back at all that has been achieved. The Fund was launched in July 2020 to enable voluntary and community groups, as well as Parish and Neighbourhood Councils, to work on projects that reduce carbon levels locally, and bring other environmental benefits.

One of the first successful applicants was Greening Steyning which, as part of its 2030 Project, has been implementing a range of environmental actions, from encouraging residents to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, to launching a Repair Cafe and carrying out a wildlife survey.

Another success story is St Mark’s Church in Holbrook which received funding for tree and bulb planting, food recycling, rainwater collection and ongoing wildlife and local community surveys to review progress. More recently, in my own ward of Shipley and Southwater South, we have provided financial help to establish a Repair Cafe with a library of tools for community use. And, nearby in Billingshurst, Men’s Sheds received an award to make their shed more energy efficient by adding double glazed doors and windows, as well as insulation. Since the launch of the Fund there have been 44 successful community bids to the tune of £134,000 in total. These have been for lots of different types of carbon saving projects, grant amounts and types of community organisations.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of these activities. There should be no need for great sacrifice or the lowering of living standards. Quite the opposite - these initiatives ought to create a healthier, more pleasant environment for everyone and can also save people money. Repairing, recycling and reusing, along with wasting less (food, lighting, heat, fuel) is all that is required to make a difference.

We understand that every family and individual has different limits on the actions they can take and that’s fine. Many individuals and groups are already doing something towards the greater good whether it is recycling cardboard, walking to school or investing in solar power or electric vehicles. All of it is welcomed and all of it, as part of a greater whole, will make a difference.

The Community Climate Fund is there to help. Fund applications can be related to any of the following themes:

• Energy - such as reducing consumption and increasing the use of renewable forms of energy.
• Water - reducing consumption, reusing and recycling resources for instance using composting bins.
• Biodiversity - increasing nature recovery for example making our gardens wildlife friendly and joining up recovery networks across our communities (even in urban areas or homes without an outdoor space - a window box can be a stepping stone for small birds and insects to travel along a wildlife corridor).

For more information about the Horsham District Community Climate Fund please email community.development@horsham.gov.uk or go to our website: https://www.horsham.gov.uk/climate-and-environment/community-climate-fund