West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris has said he is delighted the £50million Green Recovery Fund he pledged in his manifesto has been voted through unanimously.
The West of England Mayor, Dan Norris | Photo © WECA
The fund was approved during a meeting of the West of England Combined Authority in Keynsham on Friday 3rd December.
An amendment by the unitary leaders seeking to link the Green Recovery Fund to a series of other unrelated investment decisions was withdrawn after the Metro Mayor accused the leaders of a “form of blackmail”.
A new “no strings attached” amendment was then accepted.
The £50million fund will help the region meet its ambitious 2030 net-zero target, including helping some of the 250,000 West of England homes that need boilers replacing and better insulation.
Now the fund has been agreed, key environmental projects including a housing retrofit programme, installing electric vehicle charging points and biodiversity initiatives to help bees and other pollinators will get the green light.
The fund will also enable projects like the Bath Riverline, championed by Cllr Kevin Guy, to proceed.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “I am delighted. This is a massive victory for the people of the West of England. We can now get on with retrofitting which is vital to tackle the climate emergency. And we’ve done it with a no-strings-attached fund.
“We now have deeds, rather than words, and that is what the people from across the West of England deserve. This is a good day but there is much more work still to do.”
