Exeter is growing both economically and by population, but this must not be at the expense of our environment. We are dedicated to lowering the city’s carbon footprint through a range of initiatives and promoting a greener culture. We will continue to roll out our solar panel scheme for council houses across Exeter. This deal with EON will see residents benefitting from the scheme save an average of £190 a year on their bills.

We all want to see fewer cars on our roads, which is why we support the Devon Metro initiative and its aim of making it easier for people to travel locally by train. We will work with partners to improve the bus service and we will continue to support the spread of cycling and walking routes in Exeter. But we also want to help drivers to make greener choices, so we plan to install charging points for electric cars in the city centre, initially in the refurbished John Lewis Car Park.

Exeter already has an excellent record for recycling rates; a record boosted through the introduction of the Pinbrook and Matford Recycling Centres. 35 tonnes of recyclable waste is collected from households every day, saving Exeter money by reducing the amount of waste being sent to the landfill. We remain committed to maintaining and improving this record.

We are also dedicated to our educational ‘Green Team’ initiative in schools across the city, extending the recycling message to the younger generations. With our partners in the Exeter Wild City project, we will work to protect our urban wildlife and we will aim to create green corridors as Exeter grows.