-

Climate Emergency

Sodbury Town Council unanimously voted to declare a Climate Emergency in September 2020, supporting the South Gloucestershire Council declaration of the same in July 2019.We have created these pages to share information about the steps we are taking to address the situation and prepare for the local impact of climate change and reducing carbon emissions.  We hope the information will be useful to residents, businesses and organisations in our town.
As first steps the council has created and approved a Climate Action Plan, and each councillor has made a number of personal pledges to reduce their own carbon footprint.
Read the STC Climate Action Plan

Councillor Pledges

Councillor Climate Pledges Autumn 2021

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology and are in the following formats: .pdf. Request an accessible format.

Planting trees

Old Sodbury Orchard and Woodland

In May 2021 Sodbury Town Council purchased 5 hectares of land from Network Rail following completion of electrification work on the railway line on the condition that the land was planted as an orchard and woodland.

Trees and other materials were provided by the Cotswold Conservation Board for the orchard, and by the Woodland Trust for the woodland.

Planting started in earnest in November 2021 and by March 2022 planting was complete with over 4,500 trees planted by teams of volunteers under the direction of a group established for the purpose, called Sodbury Woodland and Nature.

Lots more information and pictures can be found on the Sodbury Woodland and Nature Facebook page.

Wild Flower Meadow

Creating a wildflower meadow

During 2022 the West of England Combined Authority launched the £1m Pollinator Fund aimed at increasing the abundance of wildlife by 30% by 2030.  The Fund was created to support community-led ecology projects that enhance biodiversity and pollinator habitats across the West of England region.

Sodbury Town Council successfully applied for a grant of just under £20,000 to create a wildflower meadow in a field on Sodbury Common which has traditionally been used for growing hay.

This project will deliver a sizeable wildflower meadow.  With the UK having lost 97% of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s, this 4 hectares, or 11 acres, is a move in the right direction to restore this loss.  Each acre of wildflowers will support about 96,000 honey bees, so this field would support just over 1 million.  It will also help to join up with other wildflower areas that Sodbury Woodland and Nature and the council are working on as part of the Local Nature Action Plan.

Seeding and planting of the field is due to take place in October 2023.