Latest news and articles

Each week, early in the morning, you drag your bin out to the kerb. Later that day you bring it in again, empty. It's one of life’s little routines that we take for granted. But how often do we stop and think about our waste? Mission to top the league I joined Rugby Borough Council in April with a mission to increase Rugby’s recycling: since 2016 our recycling rate has ...

The Environmental Improvement Plan (2023) for England   Following on from our recent article relating to the government’s net zero review, this blog focusses on the latest publication from government. The 25 Year Environment Plan was published in 2018 and set out ten environmental goals to help natures recovery. These included delivering clean air and...

Like most people, I’ve found it harder to find certain fruit and vegetables in supermarkets and greengrocers recently. Peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce……..all seem to be harder than usual to find and Rugby’s supermarkets have not been no exception, with a some having empty veg shelves and others limiting purchases. Reports have suggested that the UK imports up to...

The council's cabinet will consider the Climate Change and Sustainable Design and Construction Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) at its meeting on 6 February and will recommend that councillors adopt it at Council in February. The SPD was the subject of a public consultation in autumn 2022, with feedback incorporated into the final document. Topics it covers include energy...

The draft strategy has been developed alongside voluntary and community organisations and reflects their shared ambitions to deliver a net zero carbon borough. Cllr Emma Crane, Rugby Borough Council portfolio holder for Communities, Homes, Digital and Communications, and the council’s Climate Change champion, said: “I would like to thank the cross-party working group on Climate Change that has...

Clean Air Day this year highlights the role that personal transport has in reducing air quality locally. Tailpipe emissions from petrol and diesel-fuelled vehicles make an obvious contribution to particulates in the air, but a recent report also highlighted that particulates from tyre degradation also play a role. Electrification and the switch to EVs will not clean up our air to the extent...

Tackling climate change can feel like an insurmountable challenge and with so many other pressing concerns to deal with, like energy price and cost of living crises, many people feel there’s little they can do on a personal level. But taking steps to reduce emissions in our homes can also bring benefits such as lower energy bills.  Heating is responsible for around 14% of the UK’s total...

Is flood risk really increasing?  The short answer is yes!  In their latest State of the UK Climate Report, the Royal Meteorological Society state that ‘For the most recent decade, UK summers have been on average 15% wetter than 1981–2010 and UK winters have been 11% wetter.’    The size of the future risk is significant too, with...

A new website has been launched as part of Rugby’s commitment to go “net zero”. The site was created following Rugby’s Climate Summit in September and has been launched as the international COP26 climate summit gets underway. It will be used to help Rugby’s communities to share information and tips as residents, businesses, public agencies and voluntary and community organisations all do their...

WORK looks set to start on a major expansion of Rugby's Park Connector Network. The council has secured a £75,000 grant from the Veolia Environmental Trust to push ahead with plans to create a pathway network linking Lower Hillmorton Road to Lansdowne Place and Fleet Crescent, Whinfield Recreation Ground, Whinfield Wood and Whinfield Cemetery. The work includes raising, resurfacing and...

The first ever summit on addressing climate change in the borough of Rugby took place on 18 September, with keynote presentations from the business, voluntary and community sectors. The summit, which was chaired by Cllr Seb Lowe, Leader of Rugby Borough Council, tackled waste disposal and energy, sustainable transport, and biodiversity, with an additional view from the community sector. In...