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January 2010 - Cabinet member praises council workers at Maidstone Hospital

Maidstone Borough Council answered a call, relayed from the Kent County Council emergency planning team, for help to dig out Maidstone Hospital on Sunday January 10.

A team of three council workers responded to the call and spent four hours digging out and gritting roads and car parks on the site. The same team were back on site the following day with a mechanical digger to finish off the work. They also helped to clear an access to the home of a discharged patient.

Maidstone council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, Mark Wooding, said: “This is a great example of the public services working together and it is vitally important that we do so during such times. The team worked hard to ensure the main roads within the site were passable and cleared car parks and the area around the oncology department. We also deployed more than 20 staff to help KCC clear snow from footpaths in the borough.”

November 2009 - Cabinet Member’s new Community Toilet Scheme - “A Success”

Maidstone’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding, and Ethos staff fixed the first community toilet sticker on the window of the popular café/ restaurant.

Shops, pubs and cafes throughout Maidstone town centre will be opening up their toilets for people to use. They have joined Maidstone council’s new community toilet scheme which means that visitors to the town can use toilets within shops and cafes, free of charge, without having to make a purchase.

Participating shops will display a distinctive blue and orange sticker in their window and there will be directional signs throughout the town letting people know the location of these community toilets.

Cllr Wooding, commenting on the scheme says: “This new scheme follows other successful schemes introduced in Richmond and Brighton. These cafes, pubs and shops, with their longer opening hours, give people a wider choice of times that they can gain access to toilet facilities than ever before. Participating businesses were carefully selected to ensure the right type of facilities and a breadth of opening times, and as a council, we are playing our part too with Maidstone library also joining the scheme.”

Mark Dale, manager of Ethos said: “We are happy to join the scheme. Our toilets are already open to customers and we see no reason why we shouldn’t open them up to the wider community.”

August 2009 – Council gets stuck into gum campaign

Maidstone Borough Council has launched a major campaign to get to grips with chewing gum litter on our streets and pavements.

The Chewing Gum Action Group (CGAG) has been running very successful campaigns to change the behaviour of gum users since 2006. Results have shown an improvement in attitudes and behaviour towards disposing of used gum and a significant reduction in the amount of gum litter. This year’s campaign is taking place in fifteen local authorities across the country between August and October.

As a campaign partner Maidstone Borough Council receives paid-for advertising in their area and support from the group to help reduce chewing gum litter in their local environments. This includes free pre and post campaign workshops to equip partners with the information and resources needed, a dedicated co-ordinator to provide advice throughout the campaign process, and the option to promote their campaign as a case study on the CGAG website.

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding, wants everyone to see just how much it could cost them if they drop gum in Maidstone: “We are putting up some giant posters to tell chewers to ‘Bin your gum or it could cost you £80’. They’ll be used on a variety of outdoor poster sites and buses to make chewers aware of the fines associated with the irresponsible disposal of gum.”

August 2009 – Cabinet member volunteers in Rwanda

Maidstone Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, councillor Mark Wooding, has just returned from a two-week long trip carrying out voluntary work in Rwanda in central Africa.

Councillor Wooding joined around 100 volunteers from the Conservative Party – MPs, parliamentary candidates, councillors, party activists and members – led by the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell MP, the third year the party has visited the country with Project Umubano, the party’s International Development social action project.

The project’s aim is to make a modest contribution to the country’s development through partnerships in education, healthcare, business and justice, while at the same time familiarising politicians with international development issues.

Councillor Wooding was one of a group of volunteers working on the education project, teaching classes of local primary school teachers, helping them to practice and improve their English. Mark was based in a small rural village called Rwamagana in Rwanda’s Eastern Province, approximately one hour from the capital, Kigali.

Reflecting on his time in Rwanda, Councillor Wooding said “without a doubt, it was a life-changing experience. Clearly there is a limit to what you can achieve in such a short space of time, but I am positive that we did make at least a modest contribution. It was humbling experience, full of a range of emotions. I may have nominally been teaching, but in my class I think the one who learned the most was me.”

There was no time for relaxing at weekends either. Councillor Wooding and his colleagues rejoined the group in Kigali to join another social action project, Umuganda, which takes place across Rwanda on the last Saturday morning of every month. The volunteers descended en masse to support a local community with the installation of a new drainage system. Councillor Wooding and other volunteers also visited an orphanage and an HIV centre to look at the work they are doing in conjunction with Christian Aid and attended a presentation made by a number of other charitable organisations to hear about the work they are doing on a number of other key issues affecting the country.

Councillor Wooding also paid a visit to Murambi, one of the country’s genocide memorials to pay his respects to the one million people that were slaughtered in the 1994 genocide.

Councillor Wooding went on to say “Politics is about people. You read about Africa in books or in the newspapers and we hear about it on television, but being in Rwanda is all about experiencing the reality of life in a developing country and there is no substitute for getting on the ground and learning first hand about the challenges of international development and what people have to experience.”

July 2009 - Council gets on the move for car litter launch

Maidstone Borough Council will be in the driving seat for its vehicle littering campaign, which is to be launched tomorrow (July 7).

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding, said: “We want people to understand that littering from your vehicle is illegal and is harming the environment. This campaign is about spreading this message and getting drivers in our borough to abide by the laws. If you are caught throwing litter from your vehicle you will be landed with a £75 fine.”

The council is taking part in a month-long, hard-hitting national campaign to tackle the problem of drivers chucking rubbish from their vehicles. The Highways Agency estimates that 700,000 bags of rubbish are collected from motorways and trunk roads every year.

Cllr Wooding added: “We want to remind motorists of their responsibilities. Cleaning litter from our roads can be dangerous and is extremely costly to the tax payer. It also causes great inconvenience to drivers, necessitating road closures and causing delays.

“Only by working together can we reduce the litter problem throughout England, making it a greener and safer place to live and work. I would urge all residents to consider their actions and those of any passengers in future – and together we can Keep Britain Tidy.”

June 2009 - Another Operation Cubit success

More than 30 illegal vehicles have been removed from Maidstone’s streets as part of Operation Cubit. Operation Cubit is a multi-agency campaign, which aims to rid the streets of unlicensed and abandoned vehicles, before they become targets of deliberate fire setting and other criminal activity.

The Operation Cubit team, made up of Maidstone council, Kent Police, Kent Fire and Rescue Service, the DVLA and its removal contractors, actively targeted various areas of Maidstone.

As well as looking for abandoned vehicles that are deemed ‘at risk’ of arson, the team also seek out vehicles that are untaxed but are still in use. These tend to be uninsured, have no MOT and are more likely to be used in criminal activities before being dumped illegally.

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding, said: “Abandoned and untaxed cars are not only a blight on the local communities, but they have a detrimental affect on the environment and also attract further crime and anti-social behaviour. By ensuring these vehicles are quickly removed from the streets, the opportunities for them to become targets for deliberate fire-setters are reduced.”

Any vehicles, which are removed and subsequently not claimed by their owners face a hefty fine for the return of their vehicle or are crushed into ‘cubes’ of metal before being recycled and disposed of.

June 2009 - Council joins the battle to save train services

Pressure is building on railways chiefs to abort plans to scrap fast-services to central London from the county town, after councillors joined the fight. 


Earlier this year Southeastern Trains announced plans to stop the off-peak fast trains from Ashford International to London Cannon Street, as the service does not generate enough demand. 

In retaliation a group of angry commuters set up the ‘Keep Our Trains’ campaign to stop the plans - which has since received more 700 signatures and support from Maidstone businesses and Kent MPs. 


Maidstone Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Mark Wooding, has now written to Charles Horton, Managing Director of Southeastern, to express his concerns about how the town’s commuters will be affected from the proposed changes. 


Cllr Wooding said to Mr Horton: “I am extremely concerned that you have chosen to ignore the many approaches that have recently been made to you and in previous years regarding the provision of services from Maidstone East and West Malling to City destinations. 

He also pointed out that it seems the railway boss has continuously ignored the points made by the council, other neighbouring authorities and organisations, as to why the service should stay and be improved.”


Cllr Wooding added: “It is understood that your arguments are based on “demand”, though this appears to be based on very limited surveys, and takes no apparent account of any “future demand”. 

“While it might be argued that some off-peak trains are currently lightly loaded others in the shoulder peak period are not. 

“We have endeavoured to work with your officers during this process in the belief that you would at least provide replacement for the busiest trains particularly on the shoulder of the peak. 

“It is therefore with a sense of some “disbelief” that I find that you have decided to totally ignore these approaches, leaving only the barest of peak services and ignoring two of the busiest times.”

The council argues that there are many people living in this area who have made life choices based on being able to catch a train to and from London. Cllr Wooding said: “For them this change is devastating. A number of businesses have located to this area that specifically require this facility. Others who are considering doing so may now be dissuaded.”


Huw Whitethread, from the ‘Keep our Trains’ campaign said: “The points that Mark Wooding has outlined are precisely the feelings of the commuters and local businesses in Bearsted, Maidstone and West Malling and everyone involved in the Keep Our Trains campaign. If the DFT and Network Rail approve the losses of these vital shoulder peak services then they are forcing a thriving commuter community into a downward spiral.”


The council will now join Maidstone and Weald MP Ann Widdecombe, Tonbridge and Malling MP John Stanley, and Mid Kent and Faversham MP Hugh Robertson, in their meeting with the minister in charge of the DFT, Lord Adonis. The Department for Transport (DfT) and Network Rail will have to approve the proposed timetable changes, which if given the go ahead will come into effect from December.

May 2009 – Cabinet member promotes recycling as new service rolled out

Every resident in Maidstone is now using a fortnightly recycling collection. Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding explained: “Over the last two weeks we have introduced the final phase, delivering bins and information packs to more than 35,000 properties. Everything has gone to schedule and we have received so much positive feedback.”

The Withers family are pleased to have the new recycling service on their doorstep. Dad, David said: “It suits us having the fortnightly collection, it’s so easy to recycle now. With the new service it’s surprising how much we actually recycle. I would encourage as many people as possible to recycle and it’s good to see the council help us do this.”

Cllr Wooding added: “It’s great to hear this kind of feedback, it proves the service is worthwhile and easy to use.”

Maidstone Borough Council has rolled out the service to about 64,000 homes in the borough, everyone will keep a weekly rubbish collection. The improved recycling collection is for paper, cardboard, some types of plastics and tins and cans. Cllr Wooding added: “Residents have told us they wanted the opportunity to recycle more and we have worked hard to deliver this improved recycling service. Now every household is able to recycle and play their part in protecting the environment, just like the Withers’.”

Most households have received a grey bin for their weekly rubbish collection, and residents have been asked to use their existing green bins for their fortnightly recycling collections. Special arrangements have been made for people who don’t have wheelie bins or space for a second bin. Garden waste will continue to be collected fortnightly in the same containers as usual.

April 2009 - Council’s Spring Clean Sweep launched

Spring got off to a gleaming start thanks to a troop of councillors, school children and other volunteers. Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding led from the front for the launch to give a helping hand to pick up the litter.
He said: “It’s great that we have youngsters from New Line Learning and the Cornwallis Academy on board to help us. They are going to be the role models for the younger generation. I hope we can clear this area so that it is a more pleasant place to be.”

The aim of the campaign is to encourage groups and individuals to organise clean sweeps of their own with support from the council.

April 2009 – Cabinet member joins forces with other agencies on ‘Operation Lasso’

Cllr Mark Wooding joined council officers on Operation Lasso, an early morning police vehicle stop/check operation where the council remit is to crack down on illegal waste carriers/potential fly tippers and educate tradesmen and householders of the ‘Duty of care’ regarding the disposal of waste. He joined other agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Immigration and Customs Fules in order to maximise results.

Cllr Wooding, said: “The multi-agency crack-downs are sending out a message to fly-tippers, cowboy contractors and others that they cannot operate outside of the law in Maidstone. They will be caught and they will feel the full weight of the law. We are committed to turning the tide against those who disfigure the countryside with illegal fly tipping. In addition to the unlimited fines that can be imposed for fly tipping, failure to register as a waste carrier can result in a fine of up to £5,000”.

March 2009 - Council has a lotta-litter success

There’s been a 57% decrease in litter since a council campaign was launched to reduce fast food litter. Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding, who launched the campaign said: “This is a fantastic figure and proves the campaign was well worth doing. This kind of figure provides an excellent starting point to work from to keep improving the situation.”

The ‘food on the go’ campaign was run nationally throughout January and Maidstone council held its campaign launch on 20 January to raise awareness about the consequences and dangers of littering through surveys, competitions and giveaways.

Cllr Wooding added: “It’s good to see people taking an interest in what we are doing. This campaign has been a success and we hope to continue this momentum in other environmental campaigns we do.”

March 2009 - Conservatives maintain future Park & Ride Service for the county town

The future of Maidstone’s Park & Ride service has been safeguarded, thanks to a number of difficult decisions made by Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding.

In recent years, Park and Ride has proved to be a growing financial drain on the council’s reserves with last year’s subsidy rising to £450,000. With costs to the local council tax payer rising, the previous Liberal Democrat-led administration decided to close one of the four P&R sites last year; an option Mark didn’t want to repeat. He said “transportation has an affect on how the borough will flourish and remain attractive for living in and accessing. The one key tool we have at our disposal to tackle rising congestion in the town centre is our Park and Ride Service. Park and Ride is still heavily subsidised by the council and for the long term survival of the scheme this cannot be allowed to continue. However, I am committed that Park & Ride is, and will remain, the central feature for tackling congestion in the town and surrounding borough”.

“Park & Ride has largely been driven by an ad-hoc approach in previous years and we cannot continue in this way if we want to ensure its long term survival and viability. Whilst we need to address the short term issues we face, we also need to work up a long term strategic plan that fits in with Growth Point Status and the emerging core strategy and local development framework. We need to conduct a proper master planning exercise focussing on the long term provision of Park & Ride; developing a programmed implementation of sites to cater for projected growth in population, housing and car usage over the life-cycle of Growth Point Status.”

Over the past year, a number of changes to the service have been made which has realised savings and reduced the subsidy by £225,000. These difficult but essential changes have been:
• Reviewing the service contracts by entering a tendering procedure to ensure the service proposition remains competitive and ‘best value’.
• Changes to routes and fares structure to drive additional revenue.
• Removal of five site attendants, replaced by two mobile attendants and advanced CCTV technology.
• Increased capacity at the Sittingbourne Road Park & Ride site by 150 spaces, the first increase in many years, recognising the high demand for use of this site.

February 2009 - “Bin it” say primary school children

Young school children have been given a helping hand to rid the rubbish from their playground thanks to a creative competition. Three of the schools that entered Maidstone Borough Council’s litter sign competition will be receiving their artistic litter signs in a special presentation.

Cllr Mark Wooding, Cabinet Member for the Environment said: “We’ve had a good response from the schools that entered, and the children have worked really hard to produce some great signs, which promote a strong message about littering. They are bright, colourful and should get the message across. It’s great that these youngsters are growing up to understand the right message.”

The competition is part of Maidstone council’s educational programme to raise awareness of the environment and the effects of litter. It is the third time the council has run the design competition and entries this year have come from Senacre Wood Primary School, Barming Primary School and East Borough Primary School. The three winning designs were chosen by Cllr Wooding, and are to be mounted on metal weatherproof signs ready for displaying in the playground.

January 2009 – Cabinet member launches Fast Food Litter Campaign in Town Centre

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding is keen to promote a campaign to free the town of wrappers, packets, boxes and other fast food waste. He explained: “We are continuing to keep the borough clean and tidy, with clean sweeps and with our new street litter signage, this campaign is just adding to our efforts. I think it’s good for the town and especially a varied audience to know and understand the consequences of dropping litter.”

A number of events are planned to help promote the campaign including competitions, giveaways and talking to passers-by to raise awareness. Maidstone Borough Council’s environmental enforcement team will be helping spread the message, as well a Cllr Mark Wooding himself.

The hope for the campaign is that the public will be better informed and know that dropping litter of any kind will lead to a £75 on-the-spot fine. Cllr Wooding added: “There are enough bins in the town so there really is no excuse. Surely it’s simpler to put your rubbish in the bin than to be landed with a fine. We are taking this issue very seriously and I’m confident it will be a success and the town will be even cleaner and tidier than it is now.”

A panel of experts reinforced the message by joining Louis Hurst for his “Evening Republic” show on KM-FM where they took calls from Kent residents on the subject of litter and promoted the need for everyone in Kent to work together. Cllr Wooding also conducted a live ‘on-air’ interview with BBC Radio Kent.

The message of the campaign will be reinforced with enforcement officers carrying out high profile patrols in the borough throughout the campaign and will also include evenings of enforcement patrols. Cllr Wooding added: “This is a hard-hitting campaign and straight away we should start to see the positive effects of it.”

November 2008 - Cabinet member sets challenging new carbon reduction targets

In response to the government’s new stance on reducing emissions, Maidstone Borough Council’s cabinet has set itself a challenging new target to reduce its carbon emissions by 3% a year.

The new targets replace a previous administration’s aim to be carbon neutral. The new targets are in line with other leading authorities, including Kent County Council. Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding explains: “It’s better because we will be concentrating on achieving a real reduction in our carbon emissions. Back in 2005, the ruling Liberal Democrat group committed to making the council carbon neutral by 2010, but the progress made towards this target has been extremely disappointing”.

“For three years, the Liberal Democrats have done very little in working towards this commitment. They didn’t even know what carbon neutral meant to the council, as there are various definitions. How can you set a carbon neutral target if you don’t know what it means or have a strategy to achieve it?”

“The Cabinet made the change because becoming carbon neutral doesn’t necessarily mean that you will reduce the emissions you produce. We could become carbon neutral at a stroke by paying up to £100,000 to offset the emissions we produce. But this way, by concentrating on reducing our emissions we will be consuming less energy and saving money at the same time.”

Progress towards the new targets will be reported to cabinet every six months and will take into account changing scientific advice and government direction.

Councillor Wooding is confident that although the target has changed the council is working along the right lines and the overall aim of addressing climate change remains. He said: “The carbon neutral target proved unachievable without significant and costly offsetting and was set at a time when we hadn’t fully analysed our carbon footprint. The government is in the process of setting new targets and providing new advice on reducing emissions. Our new target is more in line with these, real and achievable and sets us on a robust path towards a low carbon future.”

October 2008 – Cllr Wooding launches Autumn crusade for a litter-less borough

An army of helpers, including council staff, councillors, youngsters, community groups and school children, were out in force to help get the autumn campaign off to a start; armed with litter picks and sacks, they hit the streets of Maidstone on Tuesday 28 October to rid the streets of litter and to encourage groups and individuals to organise clean sweeps of their own.
The autumn campaign got off to a gleaming start with helpers including Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Denise Joy, Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding, Leader of the council, Cllr Chris Garland and other council representatives.

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Mark Wooding, said: “The support was fantastic and the Autumn launch of the campaign has got off to a great start. We continue to pursue a zero tolerance enforcement campaign against the irresponsible few who disfigure our town and countryside with litter and fly-tipping. Following the success of this campaign I would urge as many people as possible to help support and join the crusade to make our borough clean and litter free.”

September 2008 - ‘Maidstone Goes Green’ week

‘In town without your car day’ on Friday 19 September, was the finale of ‘Maidstone Goes Green’ week, launched by councillor Mark Wooding on behalf of Maidstone Borough Council.
It aims to change people’s travelling habits in order to reduce congestion in the town, improve air quality and lower C02 emissions. Information, tips and advice were available from a number of locations within the town centre during the course of the week. Cllr Wooding spent time meeting residents and community groups to talk about things they could do, promoting the council’s recycling service and encouraging individuals to make their own personal climate change pledges; to change one thing about their everyday routines in order to help reduce their impact on climate change.

Maidstone Goes Green Week is part of European Mobility Week and more than 2,000 towns and cities across Europe will be holding events to promote sustainable transport.

Cllr Wooding said “this is a great initiative and an excellent opportunity to work with our key partners, particularly Kent County Council, to promote the effects of climate change – one of the major threats we all face today. If we all do one thing to make a change then this will make a real difference. As the community champion for climate change, I am delighted to be able to talk to people directly to increase their awareness to the effects of climate change”.

July 2008 – Cabinet member unveils travel voucher scheme and companions travel free again!

After the previous Liberal Democrat administration decided to scrap the popular travel voucher scheme and companion passes with the introduction of the National Bus Pass scheme in April 2008, one of the first things councilor Wooding got stuck into was delivering on the Conservative’s election promise of introducing a new assisted travel scheme to help those most in need across the borough.

The scheme will be introduced in September 2008 and operated by Age Concern on behalf of Maidstone Borough Council, to assist Maidstone residents who are unable to access existing transport services because of severe disability or mobility difficulties. The voucher scheme will enable those eligible to pay for journeys by taxi and voluntary transport schemes.

The scheme was approved at Cabinet and ratified at an extraordinary Overview and Scrutiny meeting, where Cllr Wooding; Cabinet Member for Environment said “this is a fantastic scheme. The government’s new national bus pass is fine for most people, but this new local scheme, funded and fully supported by Maidstone Borough Council, fills the gap for some of our most severely disabled residents who can't use buses and allows the council to help those most in need of our help.”

Even conservative party leader David Cameron weighed into the debate during a visit to the town in April, ahead of last year’s local elections, when he claimed cutting the vouchers was “not social progress”.

At the same meeting, it was also agreed to reinstate companion passes for those travelling with disabled people who receive a high rate mobility component or higher rate attendance allowance. This will enable them to take an unnamed escort with them on a bus to help them with their journeys. Cllr Wooding said “this scheme puts something in place for those most severely affected by the decision made last year by the Liberal Democrats”. He said it was important to remember that the new scheme was helping those most severely disabled who there was no current provision for and that bringing back the companion passes for people living in Maidstone borough would cater for many.

June 2008 - Mark hails Operation Cubit ‘a success’ as the number of dumped cars plummets

A 94 per cent drop in the number of abandoned vehicles being reported in Maidstone has been hailed a success by the council’s cabinet member, Mark Wooding.

Figures released by the Local Government Association (LGA), show that over the last four years Maidstone council has seen a mammoth drop in the number of abandoned vehicles. In 2003 the council cleared a total of 1,647 abandoned vehicles, last year this fell to just 84.

The council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment says a combination of tougher enforcement, new rules deterring would-be car dumpers and high scrap metal prices have all led to a huge drop in the number of wrecks being left on streets. Cllr Mark Wooding said: “A triple whammy of cracking down on would-be dumpers, quicker clearing up by the council and soaring metal prices are helping to win the battle against unsightly old bangers being left on our streets. People told us these eyesores made them feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood and these latest figures show we are working hard to make people feel safe and secure”.

“A few years ago, you’d have had to pay someone to take your old car away but now scrap metal dealers will pay you up to £1,000 for the pleasure. This has definitely helped the situation, but the council is also playing an important role. We’ve listened to the concerns of local people and reacted accordingly”.

“These eyesores attract crime and the public rightly expects them to be removed quickly. If anyone sees an abandoned vehicle, they can call the council who will send someone out to deal with it quickly and efficiently. There’s no room for complacency though and we’ll be doing all we can to make sure cars aren’t dumped on our streets and when they are, they’re cleared up as a top priority.”

June 2008 – Cabinet member promotes new environmentally-friendly council offices

The new council offices in King Street, Maidstone may have only been open for a couple of weeks for office staff but already Mark Wooding, Cabinet Member for the Environment, is leading the way, promoting the cutting edge environment with features which take the building to the next level, proving an empty building which has stood in the town centre since the 1970s can be transformed into a modern working environment.

Councillor Wooding said: “It’s important the offices make sense environmentally and economically. The measure we’ve put into place save energy and money, so we’re doing what we can to reduce our carbon footprint and cut down costs.”

Controlled lighting zones, recyclable bins and an eco-friendly bio-fuel boiler are just some of the things that enable the council and its staff to promote being environmentally friendly. To add to the list, staff will be encouraged to either cycle to work or use public transport; there will be a system which balances the heating and air-conditioning to provide a comfortable temperature at all times and a green roof will be installed to slow down water running during storms and keeps the building cool in summer and warm in winter. It will be covered with plants that soak up heavy rainfall and reduce run-off that can cause flash flooding.

A bio-fuel boiler run on locally-sourced coppice has been installed, blinds have been added to counter the heat and dazzling effect of the sun, paper, card, cans and plastic will be recycled using an integrated waste system and showers and lockers have been added and the council is offering two pool bikes for use during work.

Staff are also being encouraged to turn off desktop PC’s and monitors after work has finished and make sure laptops unplugged from the mains and locked away each night. If this is not done there is a built-in system to automatically turn off the monitors.

The office is conveniently located next to the bus station and members of staff are being encouraged to use Park & Ride. Home working and mobile arrangements are also being encouraged to reduce mileage.