Council deadlock over extension to net-zero target

North Northamptonshire Council's executive will discuss net-zero targets again on 9 September

A council's decision to delay becoming carbon neutral by decades has split the authority.

Reform UK-run North Northamptonshire Council had planned to extend its net-zero targets by up to 20 years.

But at a scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday, no decision was reached. The move will now be debated by the council's executive on 9 September.

The policy follows that of other Reform UK-led councils who have already scrapped their 2030 net-zero targets, including West Northamptonshire Council.

Officers told members the council had not yet hit its annual carbon reduction trajectory and the 2030 carbon neutral deadline would be unachievable.

That could result, they said, in the council turning to expensive carbon offsetting initiatives, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

David Howes, a Conservative councillor, said the "priority of the carbon neutrality of the council has just literally dropped off a cliff".

Emily Fedorowycz, a Green councillor, said: "The dates do matter.

"We're seeing the impacts in the heatwaves that we're having, we know that things are changing."

She said moving the deadline was "an absolute joke".

But Maurice Eglin, a Reform UK councillor, said: "It's not like we're planning to take the foot off the pedal on going carbon neutral.

"We can't afford this - we need to be realistic and have common sense."

The panel voted to recommend that the executive extend the deadline to becoming carbon neutral to 2050, coinciding with the UK government's legally binding target.

A proposal by Fedorowycz for a working group to review the council's management plan further was narrowly accepted.