East Riding of Yorkshire Council launches climate change strategy

Skipsea, pictured here in 2016, has had a number of homes fall into the sea as a result of coastal erosion

A climate change strategy has been adopted by East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

The plans include increasing the number of electric car charging points and exploring the potential to reuse wasted heat from local industrial sites.

The council warned that many homes are at risk from rising sea levels, coastal erosion and increasing temperatures.

Council leader Jonathan Owen said the plan "highlights our commitment to tackling climate change".

The East Riding has one of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe, with up to 13ft (4m) of coast eroded each year, according to the climate strategy.

At that rate, around 209 homes would be lost to the sea within the next 100 years, the council said.

The strategy, which runs until 2030, comes after the council declared a climate emergency in February 2021, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It warns that the region is under threat from increasing rainfall levels, heatwaves and the impact of climate change on wildlife, livestock and agriculture.

The strategy calls for a faster transition to low emission vehicles, a move towards public transport and more local renewable energy production.

Among the initiatives are plans to ask residents to sort their waste so that only non-recyclable items are placed in the general bin, with research showing that up to 30% of bags of waste contained textiles, cardboard and electrical goods that could have been recycled.

The document also said a warmer climate could lead to more tourists visiting East Riding and this could encourage economic growth.