A climate emergency has finally been declared at Bracknell Forest Council, four years after many neighbouring councils took the step.

At a full council meeting, councillors unanimously agreed to declare a climate emergency, years after neighbouring councils such Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham Borough did so in 2019.

The climate emergency was declared in a bipartisan motion submitted by councillor Mary Temperton (Labour, Great Hollands North) and seconded by Paul Bettison OBE (Conservative, Little Sandhurst and Wellington) the leader of the council.

The motion states: “This council strongly believes in the need to continue its work to address the impact of man made Climate Change on our communities.

“To this end, the council asks the executive to continue its detailed action plans with measurable ambitious annual targets and an annual report to address the climate emergency to ensure that the council meets the government target of eradicating its net contribution to climate change by 2050.”

Initially, there were two competing motions declaring the emergency, one from cllr Temperton and the other from cllr Bettison.

However, the two councillors negotiated a bipartisan motion which was presented at the meeting on Wednesday, January 11.

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Introducing it, cllr Temperton said: “By including the word ’emergency’ in this motion, it shows this council acknowledges the urgency and commitment to encourage all to make the necessary changes.”

Meanwhile, cllr Bettison said: “I’d like to thank cllr Temperton for speaking to me a number of times over the last few hours!

“It is about getting the message out there, and that requires words and choice of words.

“Our two motions were saying the same thing but just using different words.

“And saying the same thing in different ways is more confusing than it needs to be, so by saying the same thing using the same words, and having a cross party motion, that clearly identifies and unites us all.

“Everything that we’ve been doing so far in the war against carbon is about a need for us all to work together.”

The declaration of a climate emergency has been welcomed by campaigners from the Bracknell Climate Action Group, who were present at the meeting.

Kathryn O’Neal from the Bracknell Climate Action Group said: “We are really pleased that this cross-party motion recognises that we are in a climate emergency.

"The council has acknowledged the demands we made in the petition we presented on November 30 and has now committed to having ‘measurable ambitious annual targets’.

“Council members said they were keen to engage with groups like ours and we are eager to work alongside them.

“Everyone must remember that this must be more than just words. Real, measurable, target-driven action involving the whole community is the way forward. And we are more than happy to step up and help.”