Newark and Sherwood District Council's £1m green initiatives promise includes solar panel installation, investing in green spaces and recycling schemes

More than £1m is being committed in a bid to make Newark and Sherwood greener.

Newark and Sherwood District Council has committed to spending over £1m on green initiatives by the end of next financial year.

Of this, £685,250 has been allocated to install solar PV panels across five of its corporate and leisure buildings.

An additional £40,000 will go towards surveying other council-owned sites to see how they can benefit from measures to help reduce their carbon footprint.

£350,000 will be invested in parks across the district to modernise equipment and provide imaginative and accessible new play areas.

One example of proposed work is at Sconce and Devon Park in Newark, where the council hopes to develop a new castle-themed playground as well as an outdoor fitness zone.

Another £20,000 will be invested in the council’s Days of Action programme. These involve teams from across the council targeting a specific area with activities such as litter picking, bulky waste collections, community art projects and speed watch activities.

An additional £75,000 is being allocated to support vital climate change work which will be identified from the district council’s de-carbonisation plan.

Council leader David Lloyd said: “It can be very difficult at times to quantify how committed we are to ensuring a greener district. But I don’t think it can be any clearer than our plan to invest over £1m this year on greener initiatives.

"Let me be clear, this is additional spend above and beyond what is already planned on greener activities.

“We have come under criticism in the past from a small, yet vocal, few, but I am proud that this significant funding will not only demonstrate our commitment to becoming a greener district but further confirms that we are listening to what our residents want.

"Feedback from our resident survey tells us that protecting our environment and securing it for the future is one of your top priorities. We have listened and we are delivering that.”

All the initiatives funded are in addition to existing work and the kerbside glass service which was approved last week.

As well as the £1m, an additional £30,000 will be added to existing budgets to ensure that all the extra trees planted across the district are well cared for and maintained.

A further £55,000 will go towards ensuring that housing developers work with licensed and experienced ecologists when planning to build new homes.

This initiative aims to protect existing habitats and ecosystems while leaving behind more biodiversity than when the development began, thus achieving a biodiversity net gain.

Finally, an additional £41,000 will be invested in how the council can deliver carbon reductions in the wider district.