Dragon Interview: GBC Looking for Solar Farm Opportunities Says Climate Change Councillor

Published on: 3 Jul, 2020
Updated on: 5 Jul, 2020

Cllr Jan Harwood

Is Guildford Borough Council doing enough on Climate Change?

The Guildford Dragon NEWS reporter Hugh Coakley challenges Cllr Jan Harwood, who now has the lead councillor responsibility for the issue, to explain what the council is doing and asks if it is enough.

Cllr Harwood (Lib Dem, Merrow) highlights a lack of electrical capacity to support long term plans for growth within the borough. And as the new chair of the council’s Climate Change Innovation Board, he is taking a fresh looking at the energy strategy.

He is also looking for new opportunities for increasing the provision of sustainable energy including, somewhere within the borough, a solar farm. He says that unless we had a “clean energy source for our expansion, we would be shooting ourselves in the foot”.

On transport, he said that we needed “creative solutions to make sure it was an easier decision to not use the car”.

Click on the video below to see the full interview…

Responses to Dragon Interview: GBC Looking for Solar Farm Opportunities Says Climate Change Councillor

Julia Shaw Reply

July 3, 2020 at 9:58 pm

I really enjoyed the live interview and I feel I know the councillor a little better now. More of these live interviews please! Good questions.
Jules Cranwell Reply

July 4, 2020 at 6:35 am

If this were not so tragic, it would be laughable. The Lib Dems claim to be serious about climate change, but as long as they continue with the Tory Local Plan, this is sheer hypocrisy. A few solar panels will never mitigate the damage caused to the climate by the massive housing estates proposed in the plan.
Jim Allen Reply

July 4, 2020 at 2:56 pm

Solar energy – excellent – perhaps along the ‘walls’ of the A3 as they do on the continent. Solar provides me with excellent hot showers. They work well in Guildford.