Foreword
Denbighshire County Council is committed to addressing the climate change and ecological emergency and contributing to achieving Wales’s collective goals of a Net Zero public sector by 2030 and Net Zero Wales by 2050. We declared a Climate Change and Ecological Emergency in 2019 as a Council, changed our constitution in 2020 for all decision-making to take account of tackling these emergencies, adopted our Climate and Nature Strategy in 2021, outlining our Net Carbon Zero and Ecologically Positive Council Goals, and reinstated our commitment to creating a “Greener Denbighshire” within our Corporate Plan.
Since April last year, we have been working with Arup, The Carbon Trust and Afallen and engaging with stakeholders to create a Local Area Energy Plan, an evidence-based, holistic plan that outlines the scale of change and opportunity to decarbonise Denbighshire’s local energy system. Workshops have brought us together to discuss our current local energy system, explore what our future local energy system might look like and how we might work together to influence and deliver what is needed for a decarbonised energy system. We all have a role to play in shaping Denbighshire and Wales’s transition to Net Zero, and as the Local Authority, we understand how important it will be for us to do this in a way that protects and supports our most vulnerable communities, and delivers additional benefits, such as improved health and employment opportunities across the county.
Having a Local Area Energy Plan for Denbighshire brings our local climate action plan and associated energy planning more in line with regional and national energy infrastructure planning and ensures that our local priorities remain at the heart of the energy transition. It demonstrates our collective commitment to Net Zero, and is an evidence base that will be invaluable for a wide range of stakeholders to influence change, such as:
- Helping determine what products, partnerships or services could be offered and delivered in a local area
- Highlighting areas with significant potential to developers
- Helping better prepare organisations for public funding opportunities
- Informing regional views and decision-making, to achieve a cost effective transition; or
- Strengthening the case for policy change needed at the UK government level
As a Council, we are motivated to drive Net Zero at a local level and acknowledge our role as convener and co-ordinator, to motivate others to do the same. It is vital that we set our goals on what we can contribute as a Local Authority to drive the transition to a greener future.
However, our influence over the energy system is limited, and we cannot deliver this plan without input from others in North Wales, most importantly the energy networks who have influence over what critical network investment is made, and Welsh Government, who can establish the supportive policy environment our LAEP needs to reach its full potential. It’s intended that we will work with others in North Wales to deliver these plans. They will steer the programme going forward, with a steering group made up of representatives of key organisations who have expertise to lend. We must maintain the momentum and we will be in touch to arrange further working group sessions once we have established the full project governance structure.
Thank you all for helping us establish Denbighshire’s LAEP.
Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead member for Environment and Transport.
Local Area Energy Plan (PDF, 2.7MB)