Full Breakdown
Calderdale Council Rescinds Climate Emergency Declaration
By Drooid · · How we work
Decision and Immediate Reactions
Calderdale Council voted to overturn its climate-emergency declaration after Reform UK secured a comfortable majority in the council. The motion was passed at a full-council meeting in Halifax Town Hall, where two protesters—including a 90-year-old resident—were escorted out after shouting that scientists had warned of a climate emergency. Security cleared the public gallery after further interruptions, later allowing remaining members to stay on the condition they would not disrupt the debate.
Reform UK’s Rationale
Councillor Connor Dent (Reform UK, Hipperholme and Lightcliffe) argued that the declaration had become a costly “virtue-signalling” exercise that diverted officer time and council resources from resident priorities. He cited the council-funded cycle-lane programme as an example that caused congestion and lost parking without delivering increased cycling, and pointed to a controversial battery-energy-storage plant at Holmfield as evidence that the policy was “disconnected” from local concerns. Councillor Mike Payne (Reform UK, Sowerby Bridge) echoed the call for practical, proportionate measures that benefit residents, warning that ambitious targets could drain the council financially. Council leader Dan Sutherland (Reform UK, Illingworth and Mixenden)—who originally championed the declaration as a Labour councillor in 2019—said his view had changed because the declaration had become wrapped in ideology and ignored local issues.
Opposition from Labour, Greens and Community Groups
Labour and Green councillors, supported by local activists from groups such as Green New Deal and Extinction Rebellion, argued that rescinding the declaration would undermine climate action that protects residents from heating costs, food prices and transport impacts. Councillor Scott Patient (Labour, Luddenden Foot) noted that 90 % of people nationally want government action on the climate emergency and highlighted £150 million of funding the council had secured for home retrofits, flood mitigation and green-economy projects worth millions. Councillors Martin Hey (Green, Northowram and Shelf) and Ann Kingstone (Labour, Wainhouse) stressed the need to scrutinise projects for value for money while maintaining protection against climate-change consequences.
Financial and Policy Context
The council’s £150 million funding stream has been used for retrofitting homes, upgrading public buildings and responding to serious flooding, which officials say makes any savings from rescinding the declaration negligible. Critics contend that the cycle-lane scheme and the Holmfield battery plant illustrate a mismatch between declared climate ambitions and tangible local benefits.
Outlook
Reform UK councillors indicated that future council spending will focus on measures they deem to deliver “the best possible outcomes” for residents and the environment, though no specific new initiatives were announced at the meeting.