15/10/20

Free Nextbike use for visitors and residents to Cardiff and 1,000 saplings given to primary schools for planting are just two of the initiatives announced today to acknowledge the release of the ‘One Planet Cardiff' strategy.

The strategy, which sets out the council's response to the Climate Change Emergency and calls on citizens and businesses to join the local authority in making Wales' capital city Carbon Neutral by 2030, was approved by cabinet on Thursday, October 15.

Cllr Michael Michael, Cabinet Member for Clean Streets, Recycling and Environment said: "We want to encourage residents and businesses to join us to help reduce the city's carbon emissions. We are facing a climate emergency and all of us have a part to play.

"Using our cars less, making better use of our gardens, thinking about what we eat, recycling as much of our waste as possible, these are just some of the little changes that all of us can make to help effect a bigger change.

"I think everyone now recognises the crisis our planet is facing. Cardiff itself is a three planet city. If everyone in the world used resources the way we do here then the world would need three planets to survive. This is why we have to make changes now and why we are calling on everyone in Cardiff to join us.

"We will now conduct wide ranging consultation process on this strategy before coming back with a final strategy and action plan in the spring. We want to hear the views of residents, businesses and young people, whose future we are talking about. We want everyone to get involved. They can do that by visiting this website,   taking part in the consultation and adopting some of the simple measures which will begin to make an immediate impact."

Offer by nextbike

Anyone in Cardiff will be able to hire a nextbike on Saturday, October 17^th, for 30 minutes free of charge. Anyone who doesn't have an account with the on-street rental provider will be able to download the app and use the bikes for free for the first 30 minutes, with a £1 charge for every 30 minutes thereafter.

Members of the nextbike scheme, who usually have the first 30 minutes cycling for free through their annual subscription, will have an additional 30 minutes for free, giving a full hour of free cycling on the day of the offer.

To download the nextbike App, please visit their website  here 

Trees

Planting trees and increasing biodiversity is an important element to any climate change strategy. Trees absorb and store carbon dioxide emissions that are driving climate warming. The Council will be providing 1,000 trees for primary schools to plant during National Tree Week at the end of November. This will start a programme of engagement with primary school children so they can learn about the importance of reducing the city's carbon emissions to combat the ongoing threat of climate change.

Bikes for schools across the city

Bikes are being given to schools across the city, so that school children can learn to cycle during school time.

Each primary school will receive 20 bikes and each secondary school will receive 30 bikes, along with helmets, storage containers, and maintenance tools.This partnership is being delivered by Cardiff Council, Welsh Cycling and British Cycling and funded by Welsh Government.

The scheme will help schoolchildren learn how to cycle as part of their curriculum, using the bikes in a supervised setting.