E-bike project provides support for carbon reduction
Council staff are taking part in a peddle powered project to tackle climate change.
The Council has partnered with Sustrans to provide staff the opportunity to test out the capabilities of an E-Bike, instead of their usual mode of transport.
The initiative is part of the Sustrans E-Move loan scheme, a Welsh Government funded pilot project available to residents of Rhyl and the surrounding areas.
Sustrans is working to tackle the effects of transport poverty and to encourage individuals and organisations to reduce their carbon impact through staff commuting and fleet mileage.
The Council declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2019 and committed to seeking to become a Net Carbon Zero and more Ecologically Positive Council by 2030.
Part of the drive to reduce carbon output across the Council includes supporting the reduction of fossil fuel powered vehicles for work and public use.
The E-Bike initiative runs until January allowing staff members taking part to have bike on a weekly loan. The scheme allows those taking part to compare the use of an E-Bike for commuting and other trips against their normal vehicle to see if they can cut down on their use of fossil fuel power.
Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “We are grateful to Sustrans for this opportunity to help our staff understand the greener benefits having an E-Bike can provide. We are working to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel power to tackle climate change and introducing greener elements to travel is an important part of this.
“I would also encourage any interested resident in the Rhyl area to take up the opportunity of testing the E-Bike out to see if it could help you reduce your carbon footprint and daily costs when it comes to transport.”
For more information on loaning the bike for public use visit Sustran's website.
Woodland development highlighted for biodiversity support
A former school field has been welcomed for its contribution to tackling local climate change
Representatives from the Council recently visited the old primary school field at Llanrhydd Street, Ruthin, to officially launch the newly established woodland site on the land.
They were also joined by school pupils from Ysgol Pen Barras and Rhos Street school.
The Council’s Woodland Creation Project saw 800 trees planted on site earlier in the year as part of a continuing effort to reduce carbon emissions and improve biodiversity.
These new trees are in addition to the planting of over 18,000 across the county as part of the Council’s Corporate Plan 2017-22 focus on the preservation of the natural environment and also the maintaining and enhancing biodiversity within the county.
A number of school children rolled up their sleeves to help plant the trees on their old school field in Ruthin, and in keeping with the school theme, an outdoor classroom area was also built on the site not only to help the children learn about biodiversity but also give a helping hand to local nocturnal residents.
The classroom constructed of wood by local craftsperson Huw Noble incorporated a ‘Bat Roof’ which was specially designed to provide the features bats need to roost during the day.
Councillor Arwel Roberts, Chairman of the Council, said: “I am really pleased to officially launch this site which is a real gem for the local community.
“It is great to see the education theme kept on site with the outdoor classroom and I hope many people will get to learn how important this site is for protecting local biodiversity.”
Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “The Council is really grateful to all the volunteers, school pupils and local members who worked on the Llanrhydd site. "Their commitment has helped us put biodiversity at the heart of this community and provide a community site to be proud of for generations to come."
Rhyl multi electric vehicle charging hub goes live
A Rhyl based multi electric vehicle charging hub is now live for drivers to use.
The West Kinmel car park site, the largest charging hub in Wales, can now be used by owners of electric vehicles.
The opening of the 36-vehicle capacity hub, funded by the Welsh Government, follows the successful installation of chargers at Kings Avenue car park at Prestatyn in the summer.
Rhyl’s new hub is a mix of ‘fast’ 7kwh chargers for local users who have no access to off street parking and ‘rapid’ 50kw chargers for a quick charge top up and also to help local taxi drivers on the uptake of electric vehicles by minimising disruption to operational work time.
All the chargers at the hub are open for public use.
Three of the parking bays and charging units are specifically allocated for disabled users.
The charging units also offer a range of bilingual payment options including, contactless card, App driven and RFID Card.
Daytime and peak time users will still pay for a parking space at the hub however the electric vehicle bays will have no parking charges levied between 17:00 and 08:00 as per the rest of the car park.
Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport said: “We are really pleased to open Rhyl’s new charging hub and I thank the local community for their support during construction. This facility will help those in the area who don’t have off-street parking and want to move to running an electric vehicle.
“Visitors will also be able to charge their vehicles here which will in turn support the business community of the town. It will also become a useful facility for those travelling in the area needing to charge their cars, drawing more people to discover what Rhyl and the surrounding communities have to offer.
“I would also like to thank the team which made this site possible, which includes Denbighshire County Council, Scottish Power Energy Networks, SWARCO, A Parry Construction, MEGA Electrical and O’Connor Utilities who all worked tirelessly to deliver this first of its kind project for North Wales in a timely and efficient way.”