“This county Adaptation Strategy is the commitment of Herefordshire Council and partners to tackle the urgent threat of impacts from the climate crisis, and to promote adaptation to extreme weather events, creating resilient communities ready for the future.” – Cllr. Elissa Swinglehurst, Cabinet Member for the Environment and Deputy Leader of Herefordshire Council.
Last week, Herefordshire Council published a Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the county. The plan sets out the climate change adaptation actions that should be considered for implementation by decision makers in Herefordshire, to ensure that the county’s natural environment, people, infrastructure, buildings and businesses are prepared for the impacts of climate change, including greater incidence and severity of flooding, a higher likelihood of water scarcity and more intense and prolonged heatwaves.
The plan was developed by SWM, but co-created by stakeholders who know the county the best. Our extensive engagement programme included in-person and online workshops, 1-2-1 interviews, surveys, presentations and a consultation. We provided the framework and the means of pulling everything together that stakeholders shared with us, to ensure the Plan had buy-in, built on existing work and aligned with other sustainability priorities, such as Net Zero, health and social equity and biodiversity enhancements.
Alongside the engagement programme, we produced an evidence base of historic climate impacts, current and future risks and climate projections to ensure the actions were responding to the threats the county is already facing, and may face in future. We looked back at the past 15 years of impacts caused by the weather in Herefordshire, and projected what a future climate may look like in the county using the UK Climate Projections provided by the Met Office.
Herefordshire Council are an SWM member and we have worked closely with them for many years. Despite this project concluding, we will continue to support them with the implementation of the plan and providing advice and guidance over the coming years.
Outputs
Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Herefordshire
Severe Weather Impact Assessment for Herefordshire
Climate Change Technical Report for Herefordshire
Dissemination webinar and other information
More information
