Climate and Sustainability
- Read more about how the Council is Boosting Nature in Green Spaces.
- How do we monitor progress with the Council’s Carbon Footprint? Find out more.
- How are we delivering on the Council's plans and strategies? Read more.
The Council’s Climate Strategy & Climate Action Plan.
The Council's Climate Change Strategy 2024-2028 (approved by Cabinet) aligns with the 2024-2028 Corporate Plan. The Council complement the Strategy annually with a Climate Action Plan (‘roadmap to 2030’) aiming to deliver corporate net zero at the soonest opportunity.
A foreword by Councillor Natasha Bradshaw
This document considers Mid Devon’s strategic position, sets out the Council’s approach to climate change and serves as a starting point for engagement with communities, businesses and other partners.
The strategy, aligned with our Corporate Plan, sets the Council’s priority ambitions and aims. We provide some key facts and figures for Mid Devon, such as its carbon footprint and the renewable energy installed in our district so far. We also explore the Council’s own carbon footprint and outline our climate action plan that aims to deliver operational net zero at the soonest opportunity.
To realise progress for the whole of Mid Devon, we must work in partnership, learn from those leading change, and support those who need help. Together we can co-create community climate action planning to cut greenhouse gas emissions for the district and adapt to build resilience in the face of the climate change already happening. Can you help create a vision for a sustainable future?
Councillor Natasha Bradshaw, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change.
Strategy Themes
- Vibrant landscapes at the heart of Devon
- Climate Resilient Communities
- Healthy Homes
- Green Growth and Bright Futures
- Sustainable Services and Spending
Snapshots from the Climate Change Strategy 2024-2028
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| Mid Devon district's Carbon Footprint. | Footprints linked to Council services. |
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| Solutions to the challenges we face from climate change will overlap, as the problems are often interlinked, so working in partnership is vital for climate adaptation. The Council is developing a Climate Resilience Risk Register and Matrix to foster understanding and to prepare resilience solutions. | A strategic approach to cutting the Council's operational carbon footprint. The current Climate Action Plan is here. |
Working in partnership with communities
The Climate Change Strategy provides a starting point for engagement between the Council, local communities, businesses and partners which seek to co-create community climate action planning for adaptive resilience and ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions for the district. Collaborative work will generate more detail and research such as joint and community action programmes, sometimes led by others. An engagement plan is being developed.
Our actions so far
The Council's Climate Action Plan and its Climate Change Strategy link into our Corporate Plan to highlight tangible, feasible, affordable projects. We seek benefits that will make a real impact - and some of this work has already come to fruition.
- Read more about how the Council is Boosting Nature in Green Spaces.
- How do we monitor progress with the Council’s Carbon Footprint? Find out more.
Community and Local Economy
- We have a new Climate Emergency planning policy statement and launched the Local Plan review with Climate Change as the top priority.
- Bin It 1-2-3 collections enable all Mid Devon's communities to cut greenhouse gas emissions by hitting even higher recycling rates. All waste collected by Mid Devon is either recycled or used as feedstock for a heat recovery process, with no waste collected by Mid Devon sent to landfill.
- We work with ECOE Advice to help energy-saving advice services benefit every Mid Devon household.
- During 2024 the Instavolt rapid car chargers at 3 Council sports centres saved over 70 tonnes of CO2 by charging cars with green power! More about EV chargers.
- We welcomed the first new Deletti partnership Electric Vehicle chargepoints at William Street in Tiverton and Forge Way in Cullompton. This will be joined by 8 more charge points to be installed during 2025 at Council car parks in Crediton and Tiverton. These are hosted by the Council but owned and run by Wenea.
- The Council heard from communities for the State of the District Debate in April 2022 with the theme: Devon’s Communities and Climate Change. This inspired Council partnership work to address the climate crisis.
Homes
- We have launched super-efficient Zed Pod homes at Cullompton and Tiverton with Net Zero energy performance designs.
- We have made energy efficiency improvements to thousands of council-owned homes, set budgets to keep on "investing to save" and have bid for funding to do more. A retrofit pilot project at 2 Lapford homes uses filtered air circulation and heat recapture to maximise comfort and minimise heating bills.
- Council home energy upgrades 2020-2024 e.g. insulation and roofing, cut over 600 tonnes CO2e per year.
Nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and flood management
- The Council is a partner in the Connecting the Culm project that works with farmers and communities on citizen science and nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and flood risks.
- We have worked in partnership to help plant more than 4,000 trees across Mid Devon since 2021.
During the 2024-2025 season the Council planted 172 large standards in green spaces with funding from the Urban Tree Challenge Fund, thanks to a partnership bid with Trees for Cities. This was additional to the 9 large standards planted along Blundell’s Road in Tiverton. Large standards equate to circa 10 saplings, so the equivalent of 1,810 trees planted this winter surpasses the Council’s annual target (500).
- All these trees will capture carbon and boost biodiversity for many years to come. Thank you to all involved!
A Carbon-Cutting Council
- We will consider the climate impact of all projects that go through the Council’s committee system.
- We put all Council facilities on a certified 100% renewable electricity supply in 2023.
- We invested £2.8 million from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) at the Crediton and Tiverton leisure centres to make them Net-Zero-ready and slash carbon emissions.
- That made Exe Valley Meadow Leisure Centre our first Net Zero sports centre, heated and cooled by ground-source and air-source heat pumps, powered by 100% renewable electricity and boosted by solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays for clean electricity. Efficiently run with a smart management system.
- Renewable energy features at Lords Meadow Leisure Centre include a biomass boiler fuelled by locally-sourced woodchip, advance heating / cooling with air- and ground-source heat pumps, run by 100% renewable power and solar PV on the roof. Efficiently run with a smart management system.
- Our office base at Phoenix House hosts a solar PV array and range of energy saving measures.
- We invested £300k to boost energy efficiency from the PSDS with smart LED lighting at Phoenix House, the multi-storey car park in Tiverton, and all 3 district leisure centres. These measures will cut 520 tonnes of CO2e in their lifetime, and should save £40k - £50k annually.
- Tech system upgrades since 2022-2024 are estimated to have saved over 6 tonnes CO2 equivalent annually.
- New LED lighting at Tiverton’s Pannier Market will save the equivalent of around 2 tonnes per year.
- We cut commuter traffic and emissions with hybrid working which benefits the wellbeing of our teams and communities, and makes the Council an attractive employer.
- The Council has 10 Electric Vehicles to substitute old diesel vans on our fleet, which will save 25 tonnes CO2e annually. We prioritise the greenest options each time we replace a vehicle.
Renewable Energy
The Council has rooftop solar arrays on its facilities - Phoenix House, the Carlu Close recycling depot and all 3 leisure centres. We estimate this solar power harvest saved us around £87,000. The 2024-2025 figures indicate the solar PV made a huge contribution to annual electricity needs:
- Approximately 12% for Phoenix House (the council offices).
- Approximately 15% for Exe Valley Leisure Centre;
- Approximately 14% for Lords Meadow Leisure Centre;
- Approximately 27% for Culm Valley Sports Centre.
The proportion of the power supply they provide will vary between years and at each site, and the energy balance has recently changed at leisure centres e.g. heat pumps installed.
Devon Carbon Plan
Mid Devon District Council is a signatory to the Devon Climate Declaration. MDDC has worked within the Devon Climate Emergency partnership to help shape the Devon Carbon Plan, and to apply relevant parts of the Devon Carbon Plan to our own work.
