Well, the die is cast - the draft recommendations on Carbon Management are more or less agreed now with just a few details to be sorted out at the next committee meeting. If they can be implemented and enforced they should make a significant contribution to the council's carbon footprint reduction work and, perhaps more importantly build up the council's ability to act as community leader. By sharing our experience openly and fully with businesses and other organisations we can help and encourage people to take the steps needed with the confidence that they're not going to make a costly mistake. By using our buildings as educational tools we can help the wider community to understand the implications of their actions (or lack of them) on energy efficiency, micro-generation and so on. Now all we have to do is write the report, word the recommendations properly and present to cabinet for their approval. Then the real work begins!

Later in the afternoon another die was cast when Cabinet agreed to the proposal to carry out a feasibility study on a further 3 options for secondary schooling in this part of the borough. For reasons best known to the mandarins in Whitehall the only schools in the borough which are not to be included in the funding for major refurbishment or rebuild under Building Schools for the Future (BSF) are Egglescliffe, Conyers and All Saints at Ingleby Barwick. Too many children are needing to travel out of Ingleby for schools around the borough but primarily at Egglescliffe or Conyers and it would be wonderful if IB could have another secondary school or a bigger extension of All Saints. However, land availability is a problem so the IBIS councillors have come up with the suggestion of relocating Egglescliffe comprehensive into Preston Park. The feasibility of that option will be investigated under this new decision.
I've made my views quite clear on the suggestion that a park, loved throughout the borough and beyond, should be partially taken over by a school and it's gratifying to see from the reaction of residents that Im not alone in that view. It will be very interesting to see the result of the study!