SUSTAINABILITYAchIevemeNTS 2011-2015

Wild flowers by the sea at Alum Chine

INTrodUcTIoN Bournemouth Council recognises its responsibility to minimise the impact of its operations on the environment, whilst being sensitive to economic and social considerations. Indeed, working in a sustainable way is now business as usual for the council like it is for many organisations.

We are achieving this through an environmental management system which seeks to improve the sustainability of Council operations, and I am pleased to see the considerable effort made by our services to reduce their operating costs whilst making environmental improvements.The initiatives highlighted in this report alone demonstrate annual ongoing savings in excess of £1.6m and 2606 tonnes of CO2

.

Some of our improvements include work on the Council Travel Plan and better recognition of the role that ICT can play. I am also pleased to see that managers should be able to further reduce costs and carbon emissions through improved monitoring of council business transport.

Looking ahead, I believe strategic procurement and commissioning of council goods and services presents the greatest opportunity to achieve significantly higher levels of environmental improvement and carbon reduction.

Tony WilliamsChief Executive

ForeWord

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I am pleased to present this report which details Bournemouth Council’s sustainability achievements over the period 2011-2015, which have helped to make financial savings for the council while also protecting and improving Bournemouth’s environment.

The importance of policies for driving green growth has been recognised and discussed by a range of international organisations including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which defines it as “fostering economic growth and development, while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which our well being relies.”

It is the Council’s ambition for Bournemouth to be recognised as a green economy leader, and a place where green growth can flourish. We will continue to take steps to ensure Bournemouth displays competitive advantage, has growing levels of environmental performance, and promotes sustainable growth in output and welfare in the long term.

I hope you enjoy reading this report.

councillor michael GreeneCabinet Member for Transport, Sustainability& Carbon Reduction

coNTeNTSBUILdINGS 3

eNerGY ANd WATer 6

Go GreeN AT Work 9

homeS 12

ITc 15

TrANSporT 18

TrAveL 21

WASTe & recYcLING 24

hoNoUrABLe meNTIoNS 27

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BUILdINGSThe Council has set a target to reduce its carbon emissions by one third by 2020. A major contribution will be from its property portfolio which is held and used to support the delivery of council services. The Council has more than 350 properties which include administrative offices such as the Town Hall, Schools and Adult Education, Libraries, Centres providing day care and residential care, Childrens Centres, Community Centres and Youth Centres. It is vital that the existing properties are as efficient as possible in terms of energy and water consumption so they are both environmental and financially sustainable. In the current economic climate this has never been more important. This becomes even more of a challenge where properties are classified as Listed Buildings or require high energy and/or water consumption to run the service. Often increasing service delivery puts additional pressure on buildings and their running costs.

Notwithstanding, the Council has been proactive in replacing existing, inefficient lighting with new LED lighting. Along with the reduction in energy consumption, electricity bills have also reduced considerably. Planned maintenance also considers the most efficient and sustainable replacement products.There is an ongoing review of the Council’s property portfolio to make sure the assets we hold are suitable and affordable for the services delivered from them. For example, better designed office spaces and IT solutions to support home and mobile working has led to a reduction in the Council’s requirement for administrative buildings. The Council is currently reviewing its Sustainable Construction Policy for its non domestic buildings. This review should be completed and the revision in place by 2016. This is particularly important when the Council is investing significant amounts of money to build new properties or redevelop or refurbish existing ones.

The Kinson Hub library, community centre and offices

In February 2014, our thirty year dream to transform the Hengistbury Head visitor centre into a state-of-the-art, sustainable, ‘green’ centre was realised - with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund, we opened the doors to a redesigned £1.2 million visitor centre.

We have an ongoing commitment to sustainable and ethical development, and the construction of the centre was no exception to this rule. We used a local contractor for the build, and insisted they take on 10 local apprentices to assist with it. We arranged with local businesses to cover various aspects of the development, such as the solar energy system, the outside landscaping and design of the building. Generous donations from various people helped us with the wildlife garden, seating in the garden and even wildlife cameras to give visitors an amazing experience.

Community involvement is at the heart of the project - we have 150 volunteers working for us, who have clocked over 10,000 hours working across different parts of the centre, such as the gift shop, practical work and even environmental education for visitors.

FAcTS• Estimated £2000 savings of energy through

solar power system• The land train from Hiker Cafe to Mudeford

Spit has a request stop at the centre, better integrating local attractions

• The build reused 80% of existing structure, reducing construction waste

• £65,000 in labour saved by generous help from volunteers

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heNGISTBUrY heAdvISITor ceNTre

We’ve brought the centre alive with a huge array of features within the building. For example, touch screen technology that can remap landscapes from 60 million years ago, and even live feeds of nesting birds from around the reserve.

Both a tourist destination, and a source of pride for the locals, Hengistbury Head has already proved a resounding success - with over 145,000 visitors in the first year, it is already one of the most popular tourist destinations on the South Coast.

BUILdINGS

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BUILdINGS

In 2011 we began a strategy of streamlining our office spaces to make sure we weren’t paying for excess space we weren’t using. In order to do this, we redesigned the Town Hall offices to fit more people in, without sacrificing a decent working environment. These efforts enabled us to save money by ending the leases for buildings that we no longer needed.

This reshuffling of space didn’t just benefit us financially - we now run fewer buildings, so we’re saving on heating, electricity and water, therefore also reducing our carbon footprint.

On top of cutting down on the number of buildings we run, we are also making extensive efforts within our existing offices to run them in a ‘greener’ way. For example, we have been replacing old lights with cost and energy efficient LED lights, some of which we power using newly installed solar PV panels. We are also pushing our recycling agenda by introducing far more options to recycle waste in the office.

In the last 6 years the Council has surrendered the leases on 3 administrative buildings. Dorset House and Parkway House were surrendered in 2009 and 2011 respectively and in July 2015 the Council vacated the Tourist Information Centre on Westover Road. This has reduced the Council’s overall accommodation requirement by 3,400 sq.m. which has been achieved by making better use of space from redesigning offices and more mobile & home working. Benefits of the latter include the reduction in commuting and business mileage.

FAcTS• The Council is saving circa £660,000 per

year regarding the costs of running its office portfolio

• This includes £44,000 per year on electricity costs (444,015 kWh)

SUSTAINABLe oFFIce mANAGemeNT

Bournemouth Town Hall from central gardens

Dorset House

Parkway House

Tourist Information Centre

eNerGY ANd WATer

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We have a target to reduce our carbon emissions against the 2008/2009 baseline by 34% by 2020 –a 26% reduction has been estimated by projects that have been undertaken to date. Many of the ‘quick wins’, such as the retrofit of light fittings with LED lamps, have been made. The majority of future carbon reduction measures will likely require high capital investments with longer payback periods. To fund future projects the council will aim to maximise the use of potential government funding and incentive schemes.

We have a Carbon Management Plan (CMP), which is a strategic programme of projects, to deliver the council’s carbon reduction target. We continually review the CMP to assess feasibility of undertaking identified projects. Likewise, we are always actively looking to discover and implement innovative and cost effective approaches to limit carbon emissions.

In 2015 we updated our Energy and Water Conservation Policy. The policy aims to ensure

that energy and water are consumed as efficiently as is practical to reduce carbon emissions and associated costs. To ensure the policy is adhered to, each building maintenance project considers carbon emissions when reviewing potential options. We also monitor the current energy consumption of buildings to ensure that they are operating efficiently.

It’s been identified that we could do more to reduce water wastage and increase cost savings. To improve our water management in the short term, we plan to develop the monitoring, measuring and benchmarking of our water consumption at council sites across the town. This will aim to address the increased risk of leaks occurring, especially in parks for example, because of an aging water distribution network. We have entered into an informal partnership with Bournemouth Water who will assist us in identifying opportunities for behaviour change initiatives and advising us on water saving equipment. They will also help us set a realistic target for reducing our water usage by 2020.

Longham abstraction site for water for the Bournemouth area(photo courtesy of Bournemouth Water)

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eNerGY ANd WATer

When the time came to replace the outdated street lighting system in Bournemouth, the choice for us was clear – replacing the old lights with a new LED lighting system. LED lighting would reduce running costs, save us vast amounts of energy and reduce the carbon footprint of the town. It would even give us a clearer night sky.

The project to replace the system began in May 2014, and it has already saved the town nearly £200,000, vastly reduced our energy usage, and cut the town’s carbon output by over 1,200 tonnes.

We predict the project to be finished by the end of the 2015 financial year. When complete, we expect annual reductions of 3,700 tonnes of carbon, a huge figure and one that we are proud of - we are happy to show our commitment to making Bournemouth a better and greener place to live.

STreeT LIGhTING Led projecT

FAcTS• Costs saving: £191,571.92• Energy saving: 2243287.10kWh• Carbon saving: 1,266.44tCO

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eNerGY ANd WATer

We have installed Solar PV systems across many of our buildings, including the Town Hall Complex, Kinson Library and the Bournemouth Pier. Solar PV systems are a source of clean energy, and so are helping to reduce our overall carbon emissions.

We generate enough power to run 32 homes for a year and have saved ourselves £10,000 a year in electricity costs. We’ve reduced our carbon emissions by 55 tonnes, and we are even paid for the energy we produce, totalling £21,000 savings a year.

In early 2013, our team at the Bournemouth crematorium saw potential in collecting rainwater from the roof of the chapel. We realised that, with a good system, we could use the rainwater to water our hanging baskets, which would negate tap water and labour costs.

Mike Scott, our own stonemason, stepped up and developed the first stage of the system last year. The second stage involved developing a way to deal with any leaks in the system, and once again, Mike tackled this issue, solving it quickly and cheaply.

With a capacity of over 1000 litres of water, the system, made entirely from locally sourced materials, is both cost-efficient and environmentally friendly. We make savings not just on the water itself, but also on man-hours needed. The new system also represents a step forward in our thinking - using creative measures to find sustainable and cost effective ways to run an invaluable service.

FAcTS• Over £1100 saved already• All materials used are locally sourced• Improves the service of the crematorium by

allowing for better flower displays

BoUrNemoUTh corporATe SoLAr pv

WATer recYcLING AT BoUrNemoUTh cremATorUIm

Solar PV on the Town Hall Annexe

PAVILION

THE OVERSTRAND

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INSULATION

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LIFEGUARD

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Go GreeN AT WorkCreating sustainable behaviour change amongst staff is one of the five priority areas for action within the Council’s Carbon Management Plan. Whilst it is often difficult to quantify, it is widely accepted that positive behaviour change can create 10-20% cost savings through reduced energy consumption, considerate resource use and reduced waste.

Over the last 8 years, a wide range of internal activities and communications related to ‘green’ issues such as saving energy, waste reduction and sustainable travel have been promoted to Council staff. All these activities have been unified under the campaign banner of ‘Go Green

at Work’. Through this we have taken part in national campaigns such as Climate Week, World Environment Day and WWF Earth Hour by switching off lights in council buildings, encouraging staff to turn off electronic equipment, turning down thermostats and promoting active travel to work, amongst many other things.

We hope that by encouraging staff to make positive behaviour changes which create green cash savings, we will save services money, help protect jobs and frontline services and preserve our natural resources

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Go Green Bournemouthtown-wide campaign to encourage

residents, businesses & visitors to make sustainable lifechoices. As part of this bigger picture, all Council staff are

encouraged through Go Green at Work to travel & use resources sustainably

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Go GreeN AT Work

Early behaviour change programmes had limited success within the Council, so it was decided that an interactive behaviour change platform was needed if the desired cost savings were to be realised. Research showed that very few established and suitable platforms were available and it was agreed that the best option available to us was the Green Impact Programme. This programme is developed and run by the National Union of Students (NUS) and consists of an online workbook and resources, with project support from the national Green Impact team.

The programme gives staff the opportunity to set up green teams in their working area and together complete a series of tasks under the following themes: green teams, energy, procurement, travel, waste and water. The workbook is divided into three levels, each increasingly harder to complete - Bronze, Silver and Gold. Awards are given to all teams who are working towards or have completed all of the tasks within a level, and all teams are provided with a feedback report which evidences the positive impact they have had on their environment, plus the cost and carbon savings they are likely to have created.

GreeN ImpAcTproGrAmme

FAcTS• 24 green teams established in 2013-2015,

directly involving 279 staff and influencing approximately 1236 staff (roughly 46% of the organisation)

• A total of 1021 tasks completed by green teams over the last 3 years

• Staff engagement and green behaviour change is estimated to generate ongoing annual cost savings in excess of £10,000

• These savings equate to approximately 70 tonnes CO

2 ongoing annual carbon reductions

BU student auditors 2013

The Crematoriumoverall winners2013 and 2014

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Go GreeN AT Work

The Green Bean Counters, one of our Green Impact teams from Accountancy, went above and beyond what was expected of them through the Green Impact Competition. They identified a real cost and waste problem in their working area and took the initiative to try and fix it. Their idea to remove paper towels in restrooms and pilot new ultra energy efficient hand dryers made such a compelling business case that a council-wide replacement scheme is now in progress.

The scheme is expected to save us in the region of £13,000 per year on paper towels at the Town Hall Complex alone. Additional cost and carbon savings will be achieved through reduced energy consumption of the new dryers, the need for fewer paper towel deliveries to be made to council buildings across the town, and through reducing the amount of waste that we pay to dispose of.

hANd drYer repLAcemeNT Scheme

FAcTS• Across all Council sites, we were previously

using around 4million paper towels at a cost of £40,000 per year

• From the Town Hall Complex, approximately 1,296,000 paper towels are sent to landfill every year

• The old hand dryers ran at 2300W for approximately 43 seconds per use, whereas the new dryers work at 1400W for only 15 seconds. This is a significant reduction in drying time, energy use and carbon emissions

The Green Bean Counters - Green Cash Savings Award 2014

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homeSThe standard of housing directly affects the social wellbeing and economic prosperity of communities, and has a significant impact on how we live within our environment. Our housing stock is also a significant asset in terms of its capital value and rental income. Keeping this asset in good condition for future generations is a responsibility we have embraced in the past.

In recent years, the cost of energy sourced through fossil fuels, in particular crude oil, has risen and continues to rise. A survey carried out on Private Sector Housing within Bournemouth in 2008 estimated that 7.2% of homes within the town were in or likely to experience fuel poverty. This equates to an estimated 5540 households.The Institute for Fiscal Studies October 2011 “Children and Working Age Poverty from 2010 – 2020” forecasts a decline in real income between 2009 and 2013 and the levels of absolute poverty to rise by 600,000 for children and 800,000 for adults.

West Howe has a high proportion of Council rented properties. The West Howe Strategic

Assessment shows 37.4% of households as being below the poverty line - having an income below 60% of the median income after housing costs.

With fuel poverty a significant issue, and the use of fossil fuels impacting on our environment, helping residents reduce their fuel bills is a key objective.

We have in place a number of initiatives to tackle fuel poverty and reduce the use of fossil fuels which includes the use of renewable energy sources.

These initiatives include:• Insulation and over-cladding• New windows• Draught proofing• Upgraded heating systems• Communal Heating Systems• Solar PV solutions and other renewal

technologies• Constructing new properties to at least Code

for Sustainable Homes level 4

Council homes in West Howe

In 2011, we began our programme of installing Solar PV systems on council homes. The purpose was to tackle fuel poverty, reduce emissions and cut the costs of energy for residents. Installing these panels meant that residents were generating their own electricity, which eased the strain of bills. We were then able to sell the excess back to the grid, as a source of income for the council.

So far, we have installed solar panelling on 935 council homes. All the residents of these homes are benefitting from reduced energy bills, and they are cutting their carbon footprints, as Solar PV energy is emission free, and sustainable.

The systems will last a minimum of 25 years, and will pay the costs of installation within roughly seven years. This makes them an attractive opportunity for those environmentally minded individuals or businesses looking for a longer term investment.

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homeS

SoLAr pv INSTALLATIoNS

FAcTS• Free electricity to the value of roughly

£350,000 made available to residents through the Solar PV initiative

• £5.5 million investment is returning roughly £750,000 a year to the council

• Solar energy is reducing CO2 output but 1,200

tonnes a year• We are creating local jobs by installing so

many solar panels

Cheshire Drive, Strouden Park

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homeS

The proposal was to construct two ‘affordable’ four bedroom houses in Bournemouth. This involved the demolition of two 1940s BISF houses in Kinson, and replacing them with two ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’ Level 5 houses. The old properties were the last two remaining properties of their kind still owned by the council and were in need of improvement.

The provision of these four bedroom houses will help partially meet the need for such accommodation in the Borough and will help to allow families in over occupied accommodation to have more appropriate dwellings.

The development was designed to meet or exceed Level five of the Code for Sustainable Homes, thus minimising the CO2

footprint of the development. The houses were also designed to incorporate the requirements of ‘Secured by Design’.

In 2007, the Council began a process of converting council homes from electric to gas heating systems. Beginning as part of our effort to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the town, the initiative has taken off, with roughly 1,000 council homes having had gas systems installed.

Gas heating is a greener, and cheaper solution to heating a home - typically, we expect a home’s CO

2 emissions to drop

by 60% after making the transition to gas heating, and a reduction to fuel bills of up to 30%. The cost of heating an average home using a gas system is roughly £300 a year less than an electric system.

In order to further reduce costs and emissions for Bournemouth residents, we plan to roll out 550 more gas heating systems across council homes in Bournemouth.

mArkhAm AveNUe

UpGrAdING homeS To GAS heATING

IcTThe provision of ICT services demands significant energy and resources, which can have a serious impact on the environment. We aim to reduce this impact, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, by reducing energy and resource consumption. We have been working towards this goal by using technology that is energy efficient, using existing equipment more efficiently and by working smarter.

Central government outlines ‘The Greening Government ICT Vision’ - it gives guidelines on how government ICT departments should be behaving in terms of the whole lifecycle of their IT devices. Covering procurement, usage and disposal, we aim to go beyond the government guidelines and run our ICT departments in an even more sustainable way.

With new technology comes new opportunities – one such opportunity was the advent of cloud technology, which has allowed us to store information virtually, without the need for physical infrastructure. This is just one example of how new technology has allowed us

to continue to run our operations in increasingly sustainable and cheaper ways. We continue looking out for new technology that can either improve our operations or cut down on costs or emissions, though often, as was the case with cloud technology, both these advantages can come at once.

Another important factor to consider is not the technology itself – but how we use it. We can use modern technology to negate the need to travel to group meetings, and instead use e-conferencing technology, for example. Online shared documents mean there’s no need to print out large files. Examples like these highlight how important it is that we don’t just update technology, but keep looking at our own behaviour and how we can best use what we have at our disposal.

As ICT has become increasingly dominant in all aspects of our lives, this commitment to ensure we run our services as sustainably as possible is key to our wider goal as a council to make sure Bournemouth is a green town, with sustainability at the heart of all things we do.

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IcT

In order to provide the best front line service possible, our teams of social workers, housing officers and environment officers must have on-the-go access to information while in the field. By using mobile devices, our customer facing teams can have access to all the information they need, while still being able to stay in the field.

To make sure we keep up to date with technology and continue the good work these teams are doing, we deployed 300 mobile devices to the field. This meant that staff had to do less time travelling between offices, so they saved money on transport and reduced emissions. They also spent less time in offices overall, which has meant a reduction in our use of heating and lighting – both contributors to the carbon footprint of the council.

With the addition of mobile devices, the need for desktop computers and printers has reduced. We have managed to get rid of 400 of these devices, which has reduced our carbon output by over 20 tonnes a year, not to mention the reduction in use of paper and ink.

Though most importantly, on top of all the other benefits, these mobile devices have saved our staff over an hour and a half a day, meaning they have more time to really do their job – helping make Bournemouth a better, cleaner and happier place to live.

FAcTS• 125 Printers replaced with fewer, more energy

efficient printers• 300 Mobile staff• Removed 400 desktop devices, saving space

and energy• In the first year, the pest control team saved

£616 on fuel, 1.42tCO2 and 5000 sheets of

paper

IT-eNABLed SmArT WorkING

TrANSporTWith a fleet of roughly 300 vehicles consisting of Heavy Goods Vehicles, street cleaning and highway maintenance vehicles and a total value of around £15 million, the potential to increase efficiency and save on costs is huge for the council-run fleet.

Since 2012, we’ve been steadily upgrading our vehicles, and the technology within these vehicles, in order to make them more fuel efficient, which will save on both money and carbon emissions.

It is recognised that the Council has an approach to fleet management that makes good use of resources to support improvements in service delivery. However, there is scope for further improvement by ensuring medium and long-term service needs and plans are more closely integrated into a vehicle fleet strategy which should be linked to overall Asset Management within the council.

The main structural elements to an effective fleet strategy already exist such as;• A centralised fleet management team

processing around 85% of council vehicles.• Procurement support and advice has vastly

improved since the introduction of the new Corporate Procurement Team in 2012.

• Changing the understanding that vehicles belong to the council, not the departments.

• Having a limited control in the overall flee size of the Council’s fleet.

• Starting to look at commercial fleet opportunities such as vehicle maintenance etc.

Further development of a corporate Vehicle Fleet Strategy will contribute towards a safer, sustainable community which will include all aspects of the fleet operation including: procurement, asset management (including vehicle disposal), vehicle maintenance, and the establishment of an annual Fleet Procurement Budget

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Our 20 new refuse collection vehicles, bought in 2013, are all equipped with a ‘fuel saver pack’. This will mean annual savings of 10% on the fuel emissions of these vehicles.

The new dual-compartment vehicles allow our crews to collect food waste and general waste at the same time, making collections more efficient and boosting the borough’s already outstanding recycling rate.

These vehicles enable us to take food waste to Eco Sustainable Solutions in Dorset. Here it’s treated by Anaerobic Digestion (AD) where food is broken down by micro-organisms. The gases given off during the process can be used to produce electricity and, at the end of the process, high quality liquid compost is left ready for use as soil improver.

reFUSe coLLecTIoN vehIcLeS

FAcTS• The 20 new refuse collection vehicles will

save over £26,000 a year on fuel costs, alongside having reduced carbon emissions

• The vehicles collected 2,100 tonnes of food waste in the first year

TrANSporT

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TrANSporT

hYBrId vANSOne of our major fleet investments was in seven hybrid vans. These vehicles save excess energy and use it to help power the car through an electric motor. This reduces the fuel consumption of the vehicle, making it more efficient and cost effective

FAcTS• The 7 new Hybrid Vans save over £1000 a year

on fuel• Compared to the old vans, carbon emissions

have been reduced by 25%

The Council’s street services are responsible for a variety of services throughout Bournemouth. One of the most important services takes place over winter – gritting the roads. We operate a fleet of five gritting vehicles, which we run from our depot facility on Southcote Road.

Our fleet don’t use standard rock salt – we use a special product called ‘Thawrox’, which is a combination of natural rock salt, and other environmentally friendly products. ‘Thawrox’ has proven environmental benefits, it clears ice from the roads better than standard rock salt, and it even does less harm to both your car and the roads. We use less of it in order to achieve the same results and it sticks to the roads better – this means the gritting vehicles don’t have to make as many patrols, saving on fuel costs and reducing the carbon footprint of the council.

On top of using the Thawrox solution, we have also made advances in the route-planning of

WINTer GrITTING

these gritting vehicles. Using software called ‘Exactrak’, we started planning the most efficient routes automatically, and have eliminated the need for two people to work on each gritting vehicle. This has saved us man-hours, and reduced the carbon output of the council.

FAcTS• Route optimisation has delivered fuel savings

of £749.48 over the winter period 2014/15.• Savings of 2.9 tonnes of CO

2 over the winter

period 2014/2015

TrAveLOver the last four years we’ve sought to cut operational costs and carbon emissions, using the Travel Plan as a key tool for reducing staff travel to, from and within work. This builds on the first Council Travel Plan which was developed in 2009/10. We’ve looked closely at the ways staff choose to get to work, how they get around during the course of work (through a ‘grey fleet’ study) and also expanded our research to cover customer travel and deliveries.

The staff Travel Survey has been in place since 2001, but it was through the Department for Transport’s LSTF funding mechanism (2012-15) that we were able to invest focused time and resources developing the Travel Plan. A detailed survey conducted in 2009 showed 73% use of car to work, and 77% use in work. By 2014 this figure had changed to 59% of car use to work, and 60% in work.

Since 2010 we have:• Reviewed the criteria and process for more

fairly allocating car parking spaces, with an emphasis on prioritising staff mobility and business travel requirements over other needs. The latest policy was launched in March 2015 and now has 476 approved car park permit holders spread over a range of categories

• Developed new policies and pricing on business travel rates / expenses to encourage more sustainable forms of business travel, including cycling and public transport

• Introduced charging for staff car parking to create a new source of investment in facilities to better support staff take-up of sustainable and active forms of business travel and commuting

The need for cars for business travel varies from service to service, but our research shows that facilities must be made available to enable staff to seriously consider using sustainable modes of transport.

The work carried out on Council business travel policies, review of working policy and wider customer access needs will be key to the success of the corporate plan over the next 4 years. We’ll achieve this by:• Increasing efficiency of services through

reduced mileage/travel and more effective use of time. A key target of the corporate travel plan is to reduce the amount of ‘in work’ staff travel mileage, which will be measured through mileage claim returns and which will be expressed in an average annual mileage per capita.

• Promoting sustainable modes of transport, especially bus travel, walking and cycling. The aim is to reduce single occupancy car commuter trips to our key locations (the Town Hall Complex, Southcote Road Depot, Wallisdown Heights and Tourist Information Centre) from 57% of journeys down to 45% of journeys by 2020

• Reinforcing the ‘reduce the need to travel’ message – saving time and money through teleconferencing, web/video-conferencing, mobile and home working practices.

• Measuring carbon levels caused by staff travel, with annual targets for carbon reduction and supported by a dashboard report to help service managers monitor the impact of their teams’ travel practices.

• Using site specific travel plans to help manage our carbon impact, building on the 7 key site travel plans already developed.

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TrAveL

Since its launch, Bournemouth’s pay as you go car club, ‘Co-Wheels’ quickly became a success. Providing cheap, flexible and sustainable options for car hire, Bournemouth Co-Wheels has become one of the fastest growing car clubs in the UK. This scheme is available to the community, local businesses and visitors to the town.

The low prices on offer, along with the opportunity to access a car for as little as half an hour, have meant that today Bournemouth is one of the best performing Co-Wheels locations when compared with fifty other towns and cities across the country. To mark this success, Co-Wheels have recently added four new cars to the Co-Wheels fleet, increasing the total number of available cars to twelve which means members now have access to cars across the town and local district centres. The car club has also proved popular with Council staff, many of which use the vehicles for work purposes instead of their own car.

FAcTS• 200+ Council Employees signed up to Co-

Wheels• Co-Wheels is often a cheaper option than

getting a taxi or hiring a car• The only national car club run as a social

enterprise

co-WheeLS cAr cLUBIn recognition of the complimentary benefits the car club provides, one of the town’s main bus operators (MOREBUS) have recently gone into partnership with Co-Wheels offering free car club membership to Morebus key card holders. This is to further encourage the use of public transport whilst recognising the need to use a car when necessary.

Being a social enterprise, using Co-Wheels is a great way for people to ‘give back’, without having to make too many changes to their normal schedules and behaviour.

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TrAveL

Love To rIde momeNTUmcYcLe chALLeNGeSince 2013 we have organised and taken part in three Momentum Cycle Challenges as part of the LSTF programme. The challenges were open to businesses across Bournemouth and focussed on the number of employees participating, not how many miles they could ride. Over the three challenges:

• 77 organisations took part• 2,880 people rode a bike for 10 minutes or

more• There were 843 new riders The Council took part in all three challenges, organising try-a-bike sessions, led rides and Dr Bike sessions to provide a fun and easy way for staff to participate and enjoy the benefits of cycling. We gave away cycling goody bags and other incentives to encourage more Council staff to get involved.

We carried out a full evaluation to determine the ongoing benefits of the challenges, with participants being surveyed upon registering and then at three weeks and three months after participating in the challenge.

FAcTS• 210 Council staff took part in the three

challenges (roughly 6% of the organisation)• 52 of these were ‘new riders’• 28,587 miles were cycled by Council staff

across the three challenge periods

WASTe & recYcLINGThe waste we produce as a council is considered commercial waste, which means we have a legal duty to take all reasonable measures to correctly manage it, or we could face prosecution or fines. This means we must implement waste segregation routines to reduce landfill waste and increase recycling.Much of our strategy for dealing with waste revolves around the ‘waste hierarchy’, which promotes reducing consumption, reusing goods and recycling if necessary. This structure influences much of our action as a council when it comes to dealing with waste or, hopefully, not creating it in the first place.

To unify waste and recycling facilities available to office staff across all our buildings, we have agreed an Office Waste Management Policy, and introduced it across the Town Hall Complex. The policy encourages staff to recycle more of their waste by providing access to communal recycling bins, general waste bins and confidential waste bins. Staff can now

recycle mixed paper, card, glass, cans, foil, plastic bottles and containers in the communal recycling bins.

All members of staff play their part by using the communal rubbish and recycling bins provided, giving up their desk bins in open plan offices and encouraging other colleagues to use the communal waste and recycling facilities. We are currently introducing this policy at other offices across our operations.

These initiatives all contribute to our goal of becoming more sustainable as a council, and making sure we are setting an example for other organisations of how to run a green operation.

Our next big challenge we hope to undertake will be to start looking at a policy to create a more unified approach to waste across all of our various operations, in the hope to take our efforts a step further in terms of a green council.

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Originally built in a prominent position near Bournemouth beach, the IMAX building was once at the cutting edge of cinema. Despite this, public opinion on the building quickly turned sour. People saw it as ugly, and once called it ‘England’s most hated building’.

After the closing of the cinema, Bournemouth Council bought the building. This allowed us to take control of its future and, after listening to the views of the public, we made the decision to demolish the old IMAX building. In its place, we committed to building an area for all kinds of performance and entertainment.

Several local companies completed the demolition in three months. This restored the sea views, which the huge building once obstructed. The new area was ready in time for the 2013 summer season, and was a huge success in terms of the restoration of the holiday feel of Bournemouth beach.

Our key requirement for the process was to make sure the Council recycled as much of the building as possible. In total, roughly 95% of the building was recycled, including nearly 3,000 tonnes of concrete, 601 tonnes of metal and over 400 tonnes of other construction waste. On top of this, we even reused the cinema seats by donating 220 seats to the theatre in Shelley Park. We also used 40 more seats to replace some old seating in the public area of the Council Chamber.

We officially opened the new area, known as The Waterfront, with a special concert from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, followed by a range of other summer events.

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WASTe & recYcLING

ImAX demoLITIoN

FAcTS• The building was 50 foot high• 95% of materials were recycled• Local companies carried out demolition• Reused a total of 260 cinema seats

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WASTe & recYcLING

We have placed 20 food waste containers throughout our buildings, such as in the Town Hall and Annexe, the Braidley Road kitchens and even in the Mayor’s and Councillors’ entertaining areas. The containers are suitable for all food waste and we empty them daily. The bins use compostable bin liners and, when emptied, cleaners take the waste to a different set of bins to wait for the next step of the process.

We then collect these bins and treat the food waste at a local plant, in Piddlehinton. The process we use to break down the waste is called Anaerobic Digestion; it is a naturally occurring chemical reaction. As a result of this process, we can then use the waste product to generate renewable electricity, and can even use it to fertilise our soil.

ToWN hALL Food WASTe

FAcTS• Food waste makes up 38% of the average

rubbish bin in Bournemouth• We introduced this initiative alongside a

similar borough-wide service for residents• 24 tonnes of food waste was collected in the

first year from the Town Hall Complex

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hoNoUrABLe meNTIoNS

TrAveLBUSINeSS TrAveL NeTWorkBy signing up to the Business Travel Network, local companies of any size can gain access to cheaper and sustainable transport options for their employees, such as offers and incentives for public transport use. Funded by money we put aside to help local companies reduce their carbon footprint, the Business Travel Network has been a triumph for sustainable and practical city transport.

The opportunities that the network provides are not just specific to reducing environmental impact – the Network can provide cheaper cycling equipment and guides to routes, so it’ll save money for both employees and the companies, and help keep them healthy too. With no limits around the size of companies who can participate, the Business Travel Network is open to any companies who look to reduce costs and their impact on the environment.

Free AdULT cYcLe TrAININGTo promote greener transport around Bournemouth, we’ve teamed up with Life Cycle UK and offer anyone over the age of 16 free cycle training. This training provides techniques needed for safe positioning, signalling and observation related to roundabouts, traffic lanes and multi-lane roads. Attending this course helps develop the skills that make cycling an enjoyable, healthy activity to help make safer journeys through a wide variety of traffic conditions.

Cycling is a greener, cheaper and healthier way of travelling to work, and this offer is part of a wider initiative to ensure that we are doing all we can to promote sustainable transport options around Bournemouth and for our staff.

Free BIke TAGGINGA Bournemouth Cycling and Walking Study showed that 35% of respondents are deterred from cycling due to cycle security concerns. As such, we have delivered a range of measures to improve cycle security in partnership with Dorset Police. This includes cycle security advice, increased security signage around cycle theft hotspots, additional storage backed up by a targeted marketing campaign.

This initiative has resulted in excess of 3,000 local bikes being tagged with a nationally endorsed tagging system which permanently and invisibly associates the owner’s name with their bike on a national database. This not only deters theft in the first instance but also means that if a stolen bike is recovered it can be quickly returned to the real owner.

pArTNerShIp WITh BrITISh cYcLINGIn partnership with British Cycling we have provided a programme of local bike rides known as Sky Ride Local. These organised rides have given the perfect opportunity for families and friends to get together and take part in fun, community rides and explore the local area on two wheels.

The promotion of the Sky Ride Local Programme is reintroducing people to cycling as a leisure activity; this in turn is leading to an increase in commuter cycle trips. The results of a British Cycling Commuter Survey reveal that:

• 71% of commuters were recreational cyclists before they started to cycle to work

• 97% of those who cycled recreationally prior to becoming a commuter still do

Additionally, British Cycling has helped us deliver our large town centre based cycle festivals over the last three years. These included a community Sky Ride, Criterium Racing, Corporate Race (linked to local employers) and a Nightglow spectacular. These events attracted thousands of participants and spectators providing a benefit to the town’s economy.

WASTeoNGoING procUremeNT INITIATIveSWe have adopted a variety of smaller initiatives to cut down on unnecessary waste. Since 2011, we have been requesting digital copies of catalogues from suppliers, rather than paper copies. In 2014, we began having our company vehicles’ tyres re-cut, rather than replaced, to help us avoid purchasing new tyres. In 2013, we digitalised our procurement process, meaning we no longer print off hard copies of information; instead, we deal with it electronically.

hoNoUrABLe meNTIoNS

27

Go GreeN AT Work AWArdThe Crematorium (2013 and 2014)

The Green Papers (2015)

GreeN cASh SAvINGS AWArdThe Green Bean Counters (2014)

The Crematorium (2015)

eNerGY ANd WATerToWN hALL comBINed heAT ANd poWerWe have recently installed a Combined Heating and Power system to provide electricity and heating to the Town Hall. The system is energy-efficient; it uses gas instead of electricity to produce power, as gas emits far fewer carbon emissions. We have heated the building this way since October 2014, and to date this has saved us £4,200 in energy costs, and reduced carbon emissions by 45 tonnes.

homeScommUNAL heATING SYSTemSIn 2009, we finished our first communal heating system for residents of the Deacon Gardens site. By utilising solar and gas energy, this site provided cheaper energy and hot water to 14 elderly residents. The solar energy, which is a free and sustainable source of power, contributed roughly 30% of the total load, which cut carbon emissions by a sizeable amount for the residents, and it gave them cheaper bills.Today, there are seven sites across Bournemouth where residents are using a system of communal gas and solar power to provide hot water and heating. Residents have control over their own heating and hot water, which they are receiving at cheaper rates. There is potential to even receive this free, if weather conditions allow for it.

These sites are more energy efficient, and so reduce overall emissions. They are safer for the residents too, as they reduce the risk of CO2

poisoning and gas explosions. Facts:

• We build in renewable energy sources, which results in lower carbon emissions and reduced fuel bills

• Makes hot water supply safer, which can be an issue for the elderly

Go GreeN AT WorkGreen Impact Teams and Awards 2013-15

GoLdProp Go GreenThe CrematoriumThe Green PapersThe Southcote Road Wasters

SILverCharminster ChallengersGreen @ BoscombeGo Green at Work Leadership TeamSouthbourne EcoLibraryThe Green Bean CountersTuckton Library Green Team

BroNzeAudit and AssuranceBeaufort Community CentreEconomic Development and SustainabilityEnsbury Park Community CentreEnviously Green TeamGreat Green GirlsMoordown Community CentreMuscliff Community CentreStrouden Community CentreTownsend Community CentreWestbourne Waste-Nots!

WorkING ToWArdS BroNzeCommunity RegenerationCorporate Policy, Strategy and PerformanceCustomerKinson Community CentrePTResourcesSpringEco TeamStrategic ProcurementTeam DDSTeam RGBWe can save the planet!Winton Library Go GreenGreen

This is one copy from a very limited print runproduced on FSC paper.