A local authority has revealed an "ambitious" £200 million climate change action plan.

Canterbury City Council says major investment is required to "effectively" reduce carbon emissions to net zero across the district by 2030.

The Conservative administration is seeking to replace its council cars and vans with vehicles that are 100% electric by 2025 and "decarbonise" heat emitted at three leisure centres, which include Kingsmead, Herons and Whitstable.

Council leader Cllr Ben Fitter-Harding (Con) says he is "confident" the district's climate emergency targets will be met as he lobbies for cash support from Boris Johnson's government and Kent County Council (KCC).

This comes as the local authority faces a gap of around £12 million in its budget in the wake of the pandemic, which resulted in 49 staff being furloughed in May.

Cllr Fitter-Harding described the environment action plan as "ambitious", adding: "We can't do this alone, that is clear from our financial position.

"Green recovery will be a focus of the government while KCC is similarly engaged with its vision to get to net zero."

Around 1.5 million tonnes of harmful greenhouse gases were emitted into the global atmosphere from energy produced across Canterbury in 2018. This is the rough equivalent of almost 300,000 petrol cars on the road for one year.

The city council's climate change working group has overseen the creation of an action plan after the authority declared a climate emergency on July 18 last year.

Climate emergencies were declared by numerous other councils in Kent last year, including Ashford, Folkestone, Gravesham, KCC, Maidstone, Medway, Swale, Thanet, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.

In their research, Canterbury city councillors have found that around 28,000 tonnes of CO2 were emitted from the authority's estate from April 2019 to April 2020.

Most harmful gases have come from heat produced in council homes and CO2 in Canterbury vehicle services, such as bin collections and park and ride buses.

Cllr Fitter-Harding said the action plan will "comprehensively" address climate change concerns, including the need to use more renewable energy.

Under this, council bosses will seek to secure a "low-carbon" electricity supply for its own buildings, increase the number of electric vehicle charging points and encourage staff to continue to work from home beyond the pandemic.

Cllr Fitter-Harding added: "I'm really happy and looking forward to this programme being ready."

The city council's policy committee will decide whether to endorse the plan during a crunch online meeting next Wednesday, which begins at 4pm.

A report published to the panel says: "Initial estimates indicate that at least £200 million investment in these climate change activities will be required."

If approved, residents will have their say in a lengthy public consultation, which will run until April 1.

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