Portsmouth announces its ‘greenest budget ever’

Plans for spending in Portsmouth are being hailed as the city's greenest ever budget with a proposed £37 million to be invested in environmentally friendly projects.

Plans include more cycle lanes, increased electric vehicle charging and more trees. Approximately £5 million has been earmarked for green initiatives, which, when combined with £22 million currently available for a potential new food waste recycling plant and a £10 million bid made to central government to implement a clean air zone, it totals £37 million of the £69 million capital budget. This means that over half of the spend is expected to be dedicated to green project.

As well as the schemes outlined in this green budget, the council will also be considering whether to approve its Carbon Reduction Strategy at a cabinet meeting on 4 February 2020.

Steve Pitt, deputy leader of the council, said: "We think that this is Portsmouth's greenest budget ever. We know there's no one solution to the problem of climate change, which is why we're looking at a range of ways to bring sustainable urban development to Portsmouth. By investing in improving access to cleaner ways of travelling as well as taking the next steps to a carbon neutral port through ground-breaking shore power - we're tackling the problem from all sides."