PROGRESS REPORT
You can filter the table below to view the latest progress on actions in the Devon Carbon Plan and in the Climate Adaptation Action Plan.
As well as being presented monthly to the Devon Climate Emergency partnership, the progress reports are summited quarterly to the Devon Climate Task Force . The Task Force uses its specialist knowledge and experience to offer advice on and scrutiny of the implementation of both the Climate Adaptation Strategy and Devon Carbon Plan and to make recommendations to the partnership.
The themes in the Devon Carbon Plan are reported on twice a year and include:
- Built Environment
- Transport
- Economy and Resources
- Food, Land and Sea
- Energy
- Cross Cutting Themes
The actions have been rated as either red, amber, green or completed:
[RED] = Not started or activity significantly limited.
[AMBER] = Progressing but geography or scope of implementation may be limited.
[GREEN] = Generally progressing well.
Progress Report
| Theme | Action No. | Action | Date of Update | RAG Indicator Status (see Key tab) | What progress has been made on this action? | Are there any issues hampering delivery? | What action do you anticipate next quarter? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theme | Action No. | Action | Date of Update | RAG Indicator Status (see Key tab) | What progress has been made on this action? | Are there any issues hampering delivery? | What action do you anticipate next quarter? |
| Transport | T1 | Continue the roll out of the Connecting Devon and Somerset programme. | 25/03/2026 | Green | CDS oversees an investment programme of over £100 million with £29 million of that from local authorities including £6 million of “gainshare” from a completed contract with BT. To date, excluding commercial coverage, CDS has connected 326,000 homes and businesses in Devon, Somerset, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset, more than any local programme in England*. Cost per premise is in the lowest quartile*. *Source: Building Digital UK (BDUK) In rural areas where there is less commercial investment in broadband, CDS has made a huge difference, delivering over half of the total connections in some areas, a significantly higher requirement of public intervention than first estimated by central government. Total coverage – CDS and commercial -- is significantly above the average for England’s rural areas*: • Superfast coverage for the CDS region is 95%, the average for English rural areas is 89%. • Full-fibre coverage for the CDS region is 58%, compared to 42% for England’s rural areas. • Gigabit-capable coverage for the CDS region is 68%, compared to 45% for rural England. *Sources: thinkbroadband local broadband information; Ofcom Connected Nations UK for national statistics. | Although network build is continuing in all CDS live contracts, there are regrettable delays in completing networks in some areas. However, these contracts are complex and difficult to deliver. All suppliers have fallen behind in their delivery. CDS is working with contractors to accelerate the build programme wherever possible. Similar issues are being experienced elsewhere in the UK, particularly in sparsely populated rural areas, where there are well-evidenced challenges in terms of attracting and retaining commercial investment affecting both local government-led programmes and Project Gigabit. | Having been effectively stood down by Government policy from making any new investment in broadband procurement, CDS is seeking clarity from the Government’s agency, Building Digital UK (BDUK) as to the scale, scope and final number of its Project Gigabit contracts covering Devon and Somerset. CDS is keen to work with BDUK to address these issues and explore any practical solutions for the benefit of our residents and businesses. |
| Transport | T2 | Continue to provide employment and community assets across Devon in order to minimise the need to travel. | 25/03/2026 | Status unknown | A statutory duty of the Transport Planning team is to issue comment on District Local Plans to ensure they are delivering on sustainable transport objectives. A number of District Local Plans across the county are coming up for review, including Teignbridge and Exeter. | ||
| Transport | T3 | Consider the carbon implications when making changes to community services. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | DCC has an impact assessment tool that prompts service procurement leads to consider the carbon implications of changes to community services. | ||
| Transport | T4 | Provide up-to-date information and advice about reducing the need to travel and the most sustainable travel choices. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Travel advice is delivered through a number of channels and formats currently. Traveline South West's website and app allows route planning by bus across the region. The individual bus and train providers also offer various apps and websites with live travel advice, as do Trainline, National Rail etc. In Plymouth, people can use Connect Plymouth which promotes sustainable travel choices such as Beryl Bikes (e-bikes) and Co Wheels Car Club; Plymotion promotes walking, cycling support and signposts to travel advisors. Further information is provided, and promotion of active travel, through Plymouth Council's website and on Climate Connections. Travel Devon provides information on travel options across Devon, including walking, wheeling and public transport. Up-to-date advice on cycling is shared on X for Cycle Devon. Travel Torbay provides a one stop destination for travel advice in the bay. Active Devon also promotes active travel. In Plymouth they held The Big Green Trail on June 22nd 2024, bringing together all their resources and invited community organisations to offer 'a walkable / cyclable trail' of activities. This was a pilot / test event. More than 21 external stakeholder groups were involved . Active Devon are currently working with WSP to encourage and enable active travel in and from new housing developments. Combining Travel Information Packs with physical activity interventions to try and change behaviour. Active Devon also ran the Outdoor September campaign in 2024 promoting the benefits being active outdoors. A number of recent DCC strategies including the Devon Bus Service Improvement Plan, the Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy and Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans have been published and are available for the public to view online. These documents set out background detailing the reason for their publication and the evidence behind the sustainable transport interventions detailed within them. | Active Devon will be sharing regular comms and campaigns promoting active travel - walking, cycling and wheeling working with multiple partners. Torbay Council is planning to deliver a number of measures to support public transport as part of its BSIP. This will include new bus flags, bus passenger information at stops (new transport network map & timetables) and promotional leaflets. This will also include a renewal of the Real Time Passenger Information screens at stops. | |
| Transport | T5 | Implement car free days in Devon’s urban areas. | 25/03/2026 | Red | This has not yet be trialled. No trials are currently known to be planned. Though world car free day was supported with free bus travel in September 2024. | ||
| Transport | T6 | Develop Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs). | 25/03/2026 | Green | LCWIPs have been prepared for Plymouth and Torbay. Heart of Teignbridge LCWIP adopted January 2024 Barnstaple with Bideford and Northam LCWIP adopted January 2024 Exeter LCWIP adopted January 2024 Cullompton and Tiverton LCWIP adopted March 2025 Clyst Valley and New Communities LCWIP adopted March 2025 Countywide LCWIP, encompassing rural cycling and walking issues, adopted March 2025 They are in progress for South Hams and West Devon, East of Exeter and Mid Devon. South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council are producing their own LCWIPs using Shared Prosperity Fund funding. PJA have been commissioned in partnership with Cycling UK (who are leading on the behavioural insights portion of the commission). Torbay was successful in a bid to Active Travel England which will allow a new crossing at Shiphay Lane, which is a key part of Torbay's LCWIP. There was a public consultation on the countywide LCWIP in Autumn 2024. | ||
| Transport | T7 | Provide more cycle confidence and maintenance training. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Active Devon are offering free cycling confidence training to adults within the Devon County Council area. Plymouth is offering free cycle confidence training through CyclePSSP and free bike maintenance workshops with Bikespace. Plymouth also offer individuals, who are facing barriers to accessing education, training or employment due to transport, cycle training and cycle equipment through Bike Links. Free cycle training is also available in Torbay. Active Devon: Exmouth is now up and running as a new training location. Female led sessions are starting to grow in popularity. Just recruited a new instructor in North Devon to try and offer more sessions in this area. Active Devon are offering free cycle training sessions at Tavistock and Honiton libraries in 2025. Devon County Council have received over £484,000 for Bikeability cycle training in 2024/25 – the highest amount they have received in the 17 years of the scheme’s delivery in the county. | More than 9,300 children will receive cycle training in the Devon County Council area between 2025/26 thanks to an award of £451,000. | |
| Transport | T8 | Support community bike rental schemes | 25/03/2026 | Red | Beryl has launched e-bike hire in Plymouth. The scheme currently has 128 bikes. Within the first year of Beryl bikes, e-bike riders have travelled over 230,000kms across the city. That’s Lands End to John o’ Groats 165 times, or riding the Tour de France 66 times! Journeys by Beryl e-bike replaced 26% of Plymouth’s usual vehicle use, and 55% of people who used the service are now cycling more regularly. Exeter and parts of East Devon did have Co-Bikes. See Issues. DCC are urgently considering alternative car clubs and bike hire schemes as they remain an important part of the integrated transport offer for people in Devon and contribute towards tackling climate change. Plymouth City Council have launched adapted e-cycles at Coypool Park and Ride, to make cycling easier for the rider, whatever the individual needs. This project will be one of the first networks to offer adapted electric assist cycles. The fleet will include 10 recumbent adapted electric assist trikes, ensuring a variety of options for users. In March 25 they offered free led rides to encourage uptake of the bikes. This compliments an existing hub of adapted cycles at Foulston Park.The scheme is Funded by the Transforming Cities Fund, and is a partnership project with British Cycling Federation, Plymouth Bike Hire and Plymouth Active. South Hams District Council have launched an e-bike hire scheme in Totnes, known as CAT Bike. | Co Cars/ Co Bikes has gone into administration. This is particularly affecting Exeter's bike rental scheme, but also East Devon. Co-bikes equipment is still to be removed by the financial administrators which is causing delays. Procurement by DCC for an electric bike hire scheme launched in Autum 2024 but failed to attract bidders. The procurement will be rerun. | Plymouth City Council intends to submit an expression of interest to participate in the DfT e-scooter trial. |
| Transport | T9 | Where possible, design pavements and junctions to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Devon, Torbay and Plymouth as the Highway Authorities are taking opportunities to consider the design of pavements and junctions. DCC Transport Planning continue to progress the delivery of schemes (through design, consultation, grant application, political approval and construction) which prioritise pedestrians and cyclists at pavements and junctions. A number of recent schemes to be built which acheive these aims include: Magdalen Road Exeter (May 2023) Queen Street Exeter Rifford Road Exeter Queen Street Newton Abbot Heavitree and Whipton Active Streets Trial Blundells Road Tiverton | ||
| Transport | T10 | Introduce reduced speed limits where appropriate. | 25/03/2026 | Status unknown | Reducing speed limits on some A roads to achieve decarbonisation and road safety objectives has been included as an intervention in the draft Devon and Torbay Local Transport Plan. | ||
| Transport | T11 | Reallocate road capacity to sustainable modes. | 25/03/2026 | Red | The Heavitree and Whipton Active Streets trial took place between August 2023 and July 2024. In accordance with Exeter HATOC resolutions, the Hamlin Lane, Vaughan Road and Whipton Lane modal filters were suspended in June 2024, and the modal filters at St Mark's Avenue and Ladysmith Road were suspended in July 2024. A resolution of the Exeter HATOC was for further discussions and focus groups with the local community to take place to collect more detailed feedback on the trial. While no other Low Traffic Neighbourhood style schemes are currently being progressed across the county, a number of localised interventions which reallocate road space are been progressed including the schemes listed against T9. A number of interventions are included in the draft Local Transport Plan which involve the reallocation of road capacity to sustainable modes including: Delivery of School Streets Delivery of Green Lanes in collaboration with local communities. Bus Priority at key pinch points Lower traffic streets in Barnstaple Town Centre Amend on-street parking to improve bus journey times Public Realm enhancements There was a consultation on Heavitree and Whipton Active Streets trial which ended 8th May 2024. | The trials have seen mixed responses from the public, including protests outside of County Hall. | |
| Transport | T12 | Local Plans to ensure new developments are designed with filtered permeability to promote sustainable travel. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | Plymouth, South Hams and West Devon - (PSH&WD) Joint Local Plan supports filtered permeability where circumstances and site characteristics support it. Mid Devon's Local Plan considers filtered permeability as part of a proposed checklist (CP2.2). A statutory duty of the DCC Transport Planning team is to issue comment on District Local Plans to ensure they are delivering on sustainable transport objectives. A number of District Local Plans across the county are coming up for review, including Teignbridge and Exeter. | ||
| Transport | T13 | Reduce the space available for parking where appropriate. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | Exeter City Council has introduced City Parklets, seating areas with plants, which are located in parking space in certain locations. These are funded through a specific grant to improve public spaces, with the planting helping increase urban vegetation and connect the city to nature. The removal of parking spaces as part of sustainable transport schemes has been delivered in a number of locations recently including: Rifford Road Exeter - 16 of 122 spaces removed Queen Street Newton Abbot - 55% of parking spaces removed. | Not yet widespread. | |
| Transport | T14 | Support car clubs. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | Plymouth Co Wheels launched March 21st 2024, offering electric vehicles for rent by the hour following their appointment by Plymouth City Council. Exeter and parts of East Devon did have Co-Cars but it went into administration. Procurement for an hybrid car club launched in Autum 2024. The hybrid car club sites will initially be in the existing locations (i.e. where CoBike docs were located) but there may be scope to move these once a hire company is in place. South Hams are looking into a car share scheme for Sherford (related to an S106). | Plymouth Co Wheels has had lots of kick back on social media channels, regarding it taking up parking spaces, plus resistance to EVs. Currently unclear how representative the comments are of wider public sentiment. It highlights the need for a clear narrative and consistent efforts to shift the tide of public opinion to welcome EV. Installing EV chargepoints is not enough. | Finalisation of the legal agreements to enable the kick off of the contract with the new car club provider for Exeter and East Devon. |
| Transport | T15 | Promote car sharing technology to link drivers with passengers. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Carshare Devon is promoted through Travel Devon. It is a free journey matching website which assists in finding people travelling the same journey as you. Those registered can add a regular or one-off journey and search over 11,200 members to find a match. A promotional campaign of Carshare Devon ran in March 2025 with prize entries for people logging liftshares. | Promoting lift sharing is a intervention in the draft Devon and Torbay Local Transport Plan 4. | |
| Transport | T16 | Support innovative transport solutions in rural areas, including long-term options for community and voluntary sector transport. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Devon County Council has a formal agreement with local taxi operators to deliver three Fare Car routes. Fare Car is a shared public transport service which enables passengers to book and pay separately but share the advertised timetabled journeys. The fare charged is slightly above the normal bus fare for the distance travelled. Each scheme covers a designated rural area and serves specific points in the nearest main town e.g. supermarket, hospital, leisure centre. Passengers need to book in advance with the taxi company operating the service, normally with 24 hours notice. The service is signposted to through Travel Devon. Totnes and Rural Community Transport, in South Devon, has a community run transport service running scheduled bus routes, serving locations with no other public transport, and regular travel club excursions to local places of interest. There are 38 volunteer drivers working across two routes. North Devon are running a e-scooter trail with Zipp Mobility, including both hop-on hop-off short term rental and long term rental. Stakeholders for the e-scooter trial are Devon and Cornwall Police, North Devon District Hospital, Petroc, Royal National Institute of Blind People and Barnstaple Town Council. The scooters cost £1 to unlock and 20 pence per minute, or £20 per week or £30 per month. | Provision currently uneven. | The draft Local Transport Plan 4 includes a number of interventions which aim to support innovative transport solutions in rural areas including: Delivery of electric vehicle charging facilities in car parks and largest centres Promotion of peer-to-peer charging networks Work with organisations to support and broaden comunity transport services Continued implementation of Fare Car schemes |
| Transport | T17 | Enhance bus priority measures. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Devon County Council Cabinet has agreed to advertise traffic regulation orders for a £525,000 bus lane scheme in Roundswell and a £400,000 scheme in Exeter City Centre. Schemes are part of the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). Anticipated benefits include reduced travel times with improved bus priority and more direct routes. The Bus Service Improvement Plan sets out a number of bus prioty measures to improve bus services across the county. The draft Local Transport Plan also includes these interventions. Bus priority interventions are proposed on: Honiton Road Exeter Heavitree Road Exeter Pinhoe Road Exeter Signalised junctions in Torbay, Exeter, Newton Abbot Key pinch points in growth areas Plymouth City Council has an action in its Net Zero Action Plan to "Implement bus corridor improvements, smart signal technology and the reallocation of road space to prioritise buses." | Although public consultations have been carried out on both the Exeter and Barnstaple scheme proposals, the traffic regulations will enable further consultation to take place. Torbay Council has penciled down a budget as part of its Bus Service Improvement Plan for bus priority signal improvements for 12 key junctions, to be delivered by the end of 2026. | |
| Transport | T18 | Protect and enhance funding for local bus routes, to ensure people can access services, employment and events without requiring a car. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | Government introduced the national £2 fare initiative was extended through to December 2024. Then capped at £3 till the end of 2025. In March 2021 the Government required the establishment of a statutory 'Enhanced Partnership' arrangement for buses across all local authority areas outside London. The partnerships prepare Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP) and Enhanced Partnership Schemes to deliver the BSIPs. Plymouth, Torbay and Devon have Enhanced Partnerships, BSIPs and Enhanced Partnership Schemes in place. Devon's BSIP has received £15.6m from government (having requested £34m). New services funded by the BSIP include the X30 between Seaton and Exeter, the 301 between Combe Martin and Ilframcombe and the 85 that has been extended through to Tavistock from Barnstaple. Plymouth BSIP has received £0.8m from government. Torbay's BSIP has received a further £0.4m from government as well as £7.1 millions for 49 new electric buses as part of the Department for Transport ZEBRA 2 programme. The 2025/26 BSIP delivery plan should invest £1,1m in bus service improvements to extend hours (such as new night services) and provide additional frequency during day time on the core network. Despite financial and operational difficulties, largely due to COVID recovery, passenger numbers on buses in Devon remain steady. | Longer term continued financial investment remains a challenge either locally or from national Government. The lower number of National Bus Pass holders travelling will also have an impact. | We expect to see continued improvements to bus patronage due to government's longer term commitments on lower fares. |
| Transport | T19 | Explore opportunities to set fares to support equal opportunities to access mobility for all. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Bus passes for free travel are available to older people or those with certain disabilities. The £3 fare cap is in place until the end of 2025 with no clear exit strategy set out by DfT. DCC has included Devon Bus Fare Proposals for 2025-2028 in its latest BSIP submission, which includes the following: Simplified far boundaries Daily and weekly fare levels in defined areas and a fare cap for travel Subsidied Devon Day ticket Regional and Intermodal Ticketing Offers Devon and Cornwall Bus/Rail Card Discounted bus travel for care-experienced childre and young people. | ||
| Transport | T20 | Encourage government to remove VAT from cycles and e-cyles. | 25/03/2026 | Red | Although cycle helmets are currently 0% rated for VAT, cycles and e-cycles are 20% rated. This action is still to be pursued. | ||
| Transport | T21 | Work with government to improve strategic and branch-line rail infrastructure and services, including reviewing the reopening of lines. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Government has confirmed that it “will deliver rail improvements in the South West”, including Devon County Council’s project to reinstate five miles of track and deliver a new single platform station at Tavistock, which would serve communities in Tavistock, Horrabridge, Lamerton, and Mary Tavy. Other projects mentioned include making the route between Exeter and Plymouth through Dawlish more resilient in the face of extreme weather, and Mid Devon District Council’s work to reintroduce rail services to Wellington and Cullompton. A new rail station was opened at Marsh Barton in July 2023 with half-hourly services between Paignton and Exmouth at peak times. The Dartmoor Line connecting Okehampton to Exeter by rail was reopened in 2021 after 50 years of closure through Government's Restoring Your Railway fund. North Devon Rail Alliance formed in March 2024 and wants to reopen the Barnstaple to Bideford rail line and to upgrade the existing Tarka Line between Barnstaple and Exeter. The Draft Local Transport Plan 4 includes a number of rail aspirations including: Completion of rail resilience works at Dawlish and Holcombe Increased diversionary capacity and half hour local services on the Waterloo Line Increased platform capacity at Exeter St Davids Half hour rail frequency to East Devon townd on Exeter to Waterloo mainline Half hourly rail frequency to Barnstaple 15 minute frequency on Avocet Line to Digby/Sowton Edginswell Railway Station Improved interchange and forecourt at Barnstaple railway station Improved bus/rail interchange at Tiverton Parkway railway station Reinstate rail services between Tavistock and Plymouth Deliver Okehampton Interchange railway station | ||
| Transport | T22 | Take advantage of opportunities arising from the National Bus Strategy to deliver long-term, sustained improvements in bus services. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Plymouth was awarded £1.6 million in October 2023 from the government’s bus service improvement plan to fund more regular buses, better passenger information, co-ordinated timetables and new routes. Devon's Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) has received £15.6m from government (having requested £34m). New services funded by the BSIP include the X30 between Seaton and Exeter, and the 85 that has been extended through to Tavistock from Barnstaple. Torbay's BSIP has received £2m from government in revenue and capital grants to fund a transformational programme of upgrades comprising a number of service improvements, new shelters and hundreds of new bus flags, new network maps and passenger information at stops and new RTPI screens. The highlights of the infrastructure programme will also see entirely new layouts for Brixham Bank Lane and Paignton bus interchanges by 2026. Torbay also benefited from £7.1m of grant funding to transition most of the Stagecoach fleet to electric buses, providing 49 new eBuses and EV bus charge points at the Torquay depot. Devon County Council and Torbay Council have just been awarded a combined total of £12.4m ZEBRA funding to electrify bus fleets, alongside substantial investment from Stagecoach. Stagecoach is contributing an additional £15 million to introduce new EV buses on routes in Exeter, such as Service 4, Service A, and the Green Park and Ride service. In North Devon and Torridge, these buses will operate on Services 21/21A and various town services in Barnstaple. The investment will enable part of the Torbay fleet to be modernised. The anticipated rollout of electric buses by early 2026. An updated Devon BSIP (Version 3) was submitted to central government in June 2024. This included aspirations to deliver both Capital and Revenue schemes totalling approximately £90 million. The DfT are currently reviewing BSIP submissions and will likley allocate funding in 2025. | ||
| Transport | T23 | Investigate the concept and mechanisms of a Tourist Levy, including careful consideration of its impact on local businesses. | 25/03/2026 | Red | This action has not yet been progressed. | ||
| Transport | T24 | Review the potential for congestion charges and low emission zones in appropriate areas across Devon on a place-by-place basis, giving consideration to local impacts and likely effectiveness. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | There are no plans for congestion charges or Low Emission Zones in the LTP4, nor any other plans to progress any such schemes in Devon currently. However, Plymouth City Council have said they will "Explore options, feasibility, potential role and benefits of emissions-based vehicle charging tariffs in both incentivising sustainable transport choices and in supporting sustainable transport projects." in their latest Net Zero Action Plan. Though this is more likely to be through parking charges or other measures. | ||
| Transport | T25 | Use car park pricing to balance the needs of vehicle access to rural and urban areas with those of reducing car use. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | Proposals to introduce charges for parking after an initial free parking period in Braunton, Crediton, Dartmouth, Honiton, Okehampton, Salcombe, Sidmouth and Tavistock have been withdrawn following significant public opposition. The draft Local Transport Plan includes a number of parking interventions across the different place types, including: Review parking charges for off-peak travel to discourage peak period travel and encourage longer stays in the city centre (Exeter) Enhance cycle and vehicualr parking facilities in rural centres (rural Devon and market & coastal towns) Support enhanced pedestrian, cycling and vehicular parking facilities at seafront destinations (rural Devon and market & coastal towns). Review spenging and priorities for the on-street Parking Account (Asset management and road safety) | ||
| Transport | T26 | Employers to be encouraged and supported to make commuting by active, shared and public transport more attractive. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Travel Devon offers a travel toolkit for businesses promoting the environmental, physical and mental health benefits of active travel for work. The Travel Devon Toolkit gives access to a travel audit, survey and tools to develop a travel plan. South Hams have improved cycle facilities at Kilworthy Park including a new shower and locker rooms. At Follaton, they will be increasing the number of cycle storage at the site, partly so the National Landscape team can securely store some new e-bikes for the team. | ||
| Transport | T27 | Greater provision of cycle parking across Devon and at key interchange locations. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | Cycle parking continues to be rolled out across the county as part of various policies (e.g. Exeter LCWIP) and interventions e.g. (Magdalen Road Exeter, Queen Street Newton Abbot, forthcoming Bus Service Improvement Plan Multi-Modal integration schemes at Drumbridges Roundabout and Yelverton Roundabout. Torridge District Council are hoping to use Shared Prosperity funding to install bike racks at a few locations across the district. East Devon District Council have installed twenty-eight new bike parking spaces in Exmouth, located by the RNLI lifeboat station and two locations in Phear Park. | ||
| Transport | T28 | Local Plans to require mobility hubs for new developments of appropriate size. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | Mobility Hubs are included as proposals in the following Local Plan Proposed Submissions / drafts: Teignbridge (2030-2040) Exeter (2020-2040) Mid Devon (2013-2033) Plymouth South Hams &West Devon Joint Local Plan does not require mobility hubs, but corporate investment is taking place to deliver mobility hubs in locations aligned with strategic growth areas. Mid Devon's Local Plan considers Integrated Active Travel in a proposed checklist (CP2.3). | Further information on consideration of mobility hubs in Local Plans needed. | |
| Transport | T29 | Make it easier to take cycles on trains. | 25/03/2026 | Status unknown | |||
| Transport | T30 | Introduce integrated ticketing. | 25/03/2026 | Red | The draft Devon and Torbay Local Transport Plan 4 includes aspirations to introduce integrated ticketing for public transport. This aspiration is reflected in the Devon Bus Service Improvement Plan. The Peninsula Transport Strategic Implementation Plan 2025 to 2050 gives its support for integrated ticketing across modes. Plymouth City Council has the following action in its Net Zero Action Plan "Work with regional (Peninsula Transport Strategic Transport Board) and national (Department for Transport-backed Coral programme) partners to explore opportunities for the widespread implementation of integrated ticketing systems on buses." | Torbay EP is planning to trial again the use of Torbay dayrider tickets by all operators as a pilot for integrated ticketing. | |
| Transport | T31 | Modernise and create car parks at strategic points to encourage car sharing and onward journeys by active travel or public transport. | 25/03/2026 | Status unknown | The draft Devon and Torbay Local Transport Plan 4 includes aspirations for the delivery of a number of "hubs" including: Work with the rail, bus, and coach industry to deliver ‘hub and ride’ improvements where rural residents can access longer-distance transport services. (Rural Devon and Market & Coastal Towns) Support mobility hubs and integrating sustainable travel choices at larger market and coastal towns. (Rural Devon and Market & Coastal Towns) Transport hub enhancements on key corridors into the city (Exeter) Mobility Hub at Plymouth and South Devon Freeport (Growth Areas) | ||
| Transport | T32 | Develop EV Charging Strategies to deploy the right chargers in the right place. | 25/03/2026 | Green | EV charging strategies are in place or being prepared by Devon County Council (DCC), South Hams District Council (SHDC), West Devon Borough Council (WDBC), Plymouth City Council, Exeter City Council and Torbay Council. East Devon, North Devon District Council and Torrdige District Council have decided not to develop their own strategy following the DCC EV strategy. The Peninsula Transport Strategic Implementation Plan 2025 - 2050 has given priority to expanding the EV charging network including in rural areas, to meet forecast demand. | ||
| Transport | T33 | DCE partners to use their assets to provide publicly-accessible EV charging and shared mobility infrastructure. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | DCE partners have installed 241 publicly-accessible charging bays across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay at August 2023. A record of these is kept on a Google map on the Devon Climate Emergency website. The £1.3m EU-funded DELETTI project is continuing the installation of charging infrastucture in 38 off-street car parks across Devon, providing 160 charging bays in partnership with Scottish Power and the district councils and national park authorities. However, deployment in some areas, such as Torbay has been too slow. This project is now coming to an end and will be replaced by the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) project funded by government to March 2025. This has awarded £7m capital to the Devon County Council area, £2.4m to Plymouth and £1m to Torbay. The funding also provides revenue money to increase capacity within local authorities to deliver the capital works (£0.7m for Devon, £0.4m for Plymouth and £0.3m for Torbay). This will substantially increase the rate of delivery. Two project managers have been employed at Devon County Council to oversee the delivery of LEVI. The Rapid Charging Devon project is continuing to install off street and on street charging in Exeter and East Devon provided by Wenea. Many of these had been implemented in partnership with co-cars. Following the launch of Connect Plymouth, there will be an additional 300 ev charging bays across Plymouth provided by Wenea. The BMW "Recharge in Nature" partnership has confirmed it will fund EV charge points in Dartmoor and Exmoor. On Dartmoor, these are expected to be at Postbridge, Princetown and Meldon. South Hams' inhouse installed rapid charger is available to the public now at Follaton House. Business cases for further installations across SH/WD assets are being finalised. | Grid capacity and disruption of public realm to upgrade the connections, as well as issues arising from lack of communication channels between multiple private installers in relation to remaining grid capacity at certain locations. The demise of co-cars and the vacant charging bays this now leaves needs resolving. | Further chargers will continue to become live. |
| Transport | T34 | Provide electric charging infrastructure in harbours and marinas. | 25/03/2026 | Green | South Hams District Council and the University of Plymouth are two of several partners in the Electric Seaway Project, which is set to deliver marine electric charging infrastructure along the south coast using £3.2 million of government funding. Exeter City Council Waterways department have commissioned a report to create a plan for achieving net zero by 2050 for the Port as a whole. Plymouth City Council approved their Port Strategy on the 10th of March 2025. It includes the strategy recommendation: "To recognise the significant role that the ports can play in preparing for net zero and the opportunity and benefits that this could deliver in productivity and job creation." | South Hams were due to install marine electric charging points at Whitestrand pontoon, however it has been pulled from the electric seaway project unfortunately. | |
| Transport | T35 | DCE partners and organisations in the County to transition their fleets to Ultra Low Emission Vehicles. | 25/03/2026 | Green | South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council have 4 EV’s so far and are working out a forward fleet plan for staggered replacement based on existing leases and end of life for owned vehicles. 2025 - approval for 17 new EV’s at South Hams. Taken delivery of a new electric workboat at Salcombe on a trial as part of the ZENOW project. South West Water (SWW) has 16 EVs as of February 2023 and the tranistion continues. The fleet expansion will mean that around 150,000 miles are being travelled in EVs as opposed to other SWW vehicles. North Devon Council are conducting a four-week trial of an electric van in order to assess its suitability. They are also looking at wider fleet decarbonisation and will be taking a proposal to Committee in the next few months. Exeter City Council’s (ECC) solar farm and battery storage facility has gone live and is now powering the city’s electric fleet of vehicles. There are 28 chargers ranging from 40kW to 11kW in capacity located at the Exton Road depot. ECC have 18x (16.5%) electric vehicles (including 3x electric Refuse Collection Vehicles), and 4x (3.7%) petrol hybrid vehicles in active fleet of 109 vehicles in 2022/23. Exmoor National Park Authority have purchased two EVs. East Devon Council have converted approximately a third of their Streetscene fleet to EVs and are due to change more to EVs as they come up for replacement. Additionally, more charging infrastructure will be added to their offices for onsite use. Teignbridge District Council is taking a decision paper to Cabinet next month for grid upgrades at depots to enable 20 – 30 electric vehicles to be brought onto the vehicle fleet from April 2024. Devon County Council has 30 EVs in its fleet. There is a rolling programme of replacing 12 a year. Their target is for 100% of cars and small vans to be electric by 2030. A commitment has been made in Plymouth's Net Zero Action Plan 2024, as follows: "Support delivery of port infrastructure improvements to promote decarbonisation across Plymouth's four ports." | Having the budget available to purchase electric vehicles and the reliability of new electric refuse vehicles. | Exeter City Council will be investigating alternative forms of fuels for fleet vehicles. |
| Transport | T36 | Accelerate the switch to Ultra Low Emission Vehicle taxis by placing requirements and incentives within the licencing process. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | Torridge District Council's revised taxi policy was formally adopted in May 22. A number of amendments/ incentives for electric and low emission vehicles have been included. Mid Devon have a taxi licensing policy review and consultation in progress. This includes progress toward ZEV / tailpipe emissions. South Hams and West Devon licensing fees for EV's are reduced compared to ICE vechicles. At Exeter City Council all Hackney Carriage applications must be either a Euro 6 emission vehicle with wheelchair access from the side; or an Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) - either fully electric or a plug-in hybrid that produces no more than 75g/km of CO2. | ||
| Transport | T37 | Seize opportunities to trial low-carbon aviation. | 25/03/2026 | Green | The Department for International Trade (DIT) has recognised the South West as a High Potential Opportunity (HPO) for the development, demonstration and adoption of sustainable future air transport technologies. This is due to several leading aerospace companies being located in the South West. The first UK electric commuter flight was trialled in 2021 between Exeter and Newquay airports, supported by £2.4m of funding from the Future Flight Challenge. The 2ZERO (Towards Zero Emissions in Regional Aircraft Operations) programme involves putting in place and testing the infrastructure needed to enable the future of electric planes within existing airport and airline operations. The Local Economic Partnership approved £236,000 last month (March 2024) to enable the demonstration of low carbon aviation in the Heart of the South West's Future Flight Innovation Zone (FFIZ). This funding will support companies to access a dedicated CAA sandbox to get fast tracked advice on regulatory requirements for their technology. It will also support further research bids and improvements to airside infrastructure. Somerset Council is now leading on this. The sector is also looking at hydrogen infrastructure. | ||
| Transport | T38 | Support the provision of electric cargo bikes. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | Devon County Council had purchased an electric cargo bike for staff use. Plymouth University held an event on the role of e-cargo bikes in the city in October 2023. Attendees were invited to try e-cargo bikes and learn about how they can contribute to eco-friendly city logistics. Through open surveys, the University aims to pinpoint the needs that e-cargo bikes fulfil in Plymouth. In 2022 Transition Exmouth successfully crowdfunded two electric cargo bikes for the ExeCargo project, promoting e-cargo bikes for community use. Exeter City Council has 2x electric cargo bikes that are used for Environmental Health officers’ site visits. | Access to cargo bikes is not widespread. | The procurement of a new cycle hire company in Exeter could open opportuntiy for electric cargo bikes to be available for hire. |
| Transport | T39 | Transport authorities and hauliers to collaborate to identify opportunities to reduce emissions. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | The draft LTP4 includes aspirations to support the delivery of the Peninsula Freight Strategy, which includes the delivery of Electric Vehicle Charging and alternative fuel stations to support the decarbonisation of goods vehicles. | ||
| Transport | T40 | Local Plans to safeguard existing rail freight infrastructure. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | Plymouth, South Hams and West Devon consider rail freight infrastructure through strategic policies, but not specifically as a safeguarding policy. | ||
| Transport | T41 | Work with government to improve and promote rail-freight grants to incentivise modal shift and provide funding for new infrastructure. | 25/03/2026 | Status unknown | The draft LTP4 includes aspirations to support the delivery of the Peninsula Freight Strategy, which includes supporting suitable proposals to increase opportunities for moving freight by rail. | ||
| Transport | T42 | Trial low-carbon propulsion for large vehicles and transition fleets to these new technologies. | 25/03/2026 | Green | Plymouth City Council with Cornwall Council and Plymouth Citybus have made a collaborative bid to the department of transport's zero emission bus regional areas scheme (ZEBRA 2). The funding requested would allow for 50 double decker zero emissions buses to cover Plymouth and the Rame Penisula in Cornwall. Devon County Council are trialing Hydro-Treated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel in construcrtion vehicles. Highway contractors Milestone are using HVO, as are some DCC vans and gritters. North Devon Council are exploring options for hydrogen in their Waste & Recycling fleet with Chris Smith at Exeter University. Exeter City Council are currently looking into electric 7.5 tonne and 3.5 tonne options with potential for trial. 3x electric Refuse Collection Vehicles are currently in operation, with depot installed with full charging infrastructure to accommodate full fleet of electric large vehicles. Torbay Council has been granted £7.1m via the ZEBRA 2 fund to transition the majority of the Stagecoach fleet to eBuses. The project will fund 49 vehicles and the electric chargepoints at the Torquay depot. The delivery of buses and plugs should be completed by the end of 2025. Torbay Council and Stagecoach are bidding for additional funding to fully transition the core fleet to electric and investigating how to potentially maximise the use of the chargepoints with charging eHGVs. | ||
| Transport | T43 | Through the Peninsula Sub-National Body, work with government to pilot and implement a low-carbon fuel solution for trains. | 25/03/2026 | Amber | The draft Local Transport Plan 4 includes aspiration to Support development of new fuel technology at Plymouth and South Devon Freeport. In 2024 GWR trialled its FastCharge battery, which it anticipates will replace diesel. The trial on the line through Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire saw the train travel 86 miles on battery power alone without charging. It is hoped that battery-powered trains will remove the need for overhead electric lines. |
Climate Adaptation Action Plan Progress
| Theme | Action ref. and action | CIG risks addressed | RAG Indicator Status | What progress has been made on this action? | Are there any issues hampering delivery? | What action is anticipated in the next 12 months? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theme | Action ref. and action | CIG risks addressed | RAG Indicator Status | What progress has been made on this action? | Are there any issues hampering delivery? | What action is anticipated in the next 12 months? |
| NE | NEA–1 - Develop a collaborative regional water strategy to manage water availability and safe treatment and disposal of waste water, including aquifer recharge, control over-extraction, increase the use of rainwater harvesting, reduce effluent discharge etc. | 1, 5, 6, 11, 12 | Amber | South West Water went out for their second public consultation on the the Draft Water Resources Management Plan 2024 (WRMP24) last year, it closed on the 6th of December. Furthermore, the West Country Water Resources Group held a consultation earlier in 2023 on the West Country Water Resources Draft Regional Plan. It was submitted to Defra earlier in the summer (2024), but was then slightly delayed due to the election. The Regional Plan is dependent on the WRMPs. The Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP) also covers this action. Devon County Council's Cabinet wrote to South West Water in 2023 to encourage them to address leakage, demand and surface water storage ahead of desalination. Nationally, Defra's 'Plan for Water' was published in April 2023. Water Net Gain is an OFWAT funded project working with South West Water and other water companies to develop a Smart Water Grid to increase storage of excess surface water run off to offset demand within high water use in the Agri Sector - https://wrt.org.uk/project/water-net-gain/. | The General Election impacted on the timeline for the publication of the revised plans expected in 2024, due to restrictions on the Environment Agency and Ofwat's ability to review and advise on next steps. | The Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) is now due to be published early 2025, pending the approval by OFWAT of the final West Country Water Resources Regional Plan. |
| NE | NEB1- Promote soil management techniques (Min-till cultivation, cover crops, ley-arable rotations) to protect and improve soil structure / nutrient levels and increase resilience to adverse weather / aridity impacts. | 4 | Green | There are a range of organisations in the region who are active in this space. These include the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South West (FWAG), Devon and Cornwall Wildlife Trusts and broader advice being given by the Business Information Point through the Future Farming Resilience programme which covers Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Additionally, the Devon and Cornwall Soils Alliance, organised by the West Country Rivers Trust, work to build capacity and capability across soils in Devon and Cornwall. The South West Water funded Upstream Thinking project is also working with farmers in a number of catchments in Devon and Cornwall to improve soil quality and reduce runoff. At a national level, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) has been expanded in 2024 to include more options to support soil management techniques, such as no tillage farming and spring-sown or summer-sown cover crops. | The expansion of SFI options relating to soil management techniques is hoped to encourage more farmers to adopt practices that improve the resilience of their soils. | |
| NE | NEC–1 - Provision of capacity building support and advice to community groups for taking action to support nature enhancement (e.g. Wild About Devon). | 1, 2, 4, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18 | Green | Within Devon the Community Action Group network and Local Nature Partnership's Wild About Devon scheme are supporting community groups to take action to support nature enhancement. District level networks such as Climate Action Teignbridge and Sustainable South Hams are also building capacity for parishes to take action for wildlife through holding events and sharing resources and know how. The Cornwall Wildlife Trust has a network of Cornwall Wildlife Groups. The Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (ERCCIS) also runs a Wildlife Information Service which advises on land management or species identification. The Forest for Cornwall provides support, advice and some funding for individuals, landowners and communities to reforest local open spaces, farmland and urban areas. The project has recorded 700ha of new planting since its inception in 2019. The Isles of Scilly Nextdoor Nature scheme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, offers advice and support for people and businesses on the Isles of Scilly who want to help nature. The National Lottery Heritage Funded 'Connecting people and landscapes in a changing climate' in Devon will bring together regenerative farming and conservation to build a community around nature-friendly food production. By connecting local people and farmers the project aims to build understanding of how regenerative farming supports biodiversity, help people gain knowledge and skills needed to monitor wildlife, and grow more resilient landscapes and communities. Other good examples of action being taken include Devon Wildlife Trust Wild Gardens Scheme, North Devon Biosphere Climate Action Fund project and Seed funding for community projects offered by Cornwall Council. Wild About Devon held a Forum Event in Ivybridge at the end of November (29th). It was the first in person event for the Forum since it's revamp. The Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (ERCCIS) has held a range of sessions across 2024 to upskill individuals on plant and animal ID. Such as an Acidic Wetland Indicator Plants Workshop and Dragonfly Workshop. | The Bat Conservation Trust has a range of activities planned for 2025 as part of its work through Connecting People and Landscapes. | |
| INF | INFA–1 - Build on and develop resilience partnerships. Ensure their Command, Control and Co-ordination arrangements for an emergency which involves the loss of both power and telecoms, and actively involve utilities companies in local planning where required to ensure linkage with regional and national developments. | 20, 31 | Green | The Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Resilieince Forum (DCIoS LRF) is a multi-agency partnership made up of representatives from local public services, including the blue-light emergency services, local authorities, the NHS, the Environment Agency and other partners. They make plans so that if there is a major emergency, the people of Devon, Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly are protected and essential services are restored as quickly as possible. The plans detail how local services will work together to respond to any type of emergency. The LRF published the updated community risk register in April: https://dcisprepared.org.uk/media/3062/2024-devon-cornwall-and-isles-of-scilly-community-risk-register.pdf Planning for a national power outage (which includes loss of communications) has been a priority for DCIoS for 18 months, a draft plan has been written and considerable engagement with LRF partners has occurred. The risk of a national power outage is one of the highest risks on the National risk register, and whilst the likelihood remains low the consequences are considered to be very high. | Work continues locally through the LRF and nationally on this risk, and is likely to develop and improve over time especially through the increasing focus on whole society resilience. The LRF are holding an event focused on extreme heat response and resilience in February 2025. | |
| INF | INFB–1 - Develop joint strategies, research, and longer-term schemes with SWW and Catchment Partnerships (and other risk management partners where appropriate) to improve catchment management both for high flow areas at flood risk and protect low flow by reducing demand / drought impacts. | 20, 21, 27 | Amber | There are already a number of catchment partnerships in the region involved in a great many projects which cannot all be captured here. Cornwall Catchment Partnership (which includes West Cornwall and North Cornwall Management Catchments) has set out its ambitions to 2025 in a paper. The Cornwall Catchment Partnership is co-hosted by Cornwall Wildlife Trust and sits as a sub-group under the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Nature Partnership. The Partnership is establishing and supporting the Cornwall Catchment Beaver Management Group, amongst a number of projects they are involved in such as Penwith Landscape Recovery Projects, Par Improvement Programmes and Seaton River Restoration. Devon's catchment partnerships include: East Devon Catchment Partnership (involved in Connecting the Culm), North Devon Catchment Partnership, South Devon Catchment Partnership and Tamar Catchment Partnership (which borders both Devon and Cornwall). Devon Wildlife Trust and the West Country Rivers Trust are both heavily involved with the partnerships, as are the National Landscapes. A number of the catchment partnerships support the delivery of advice and guidance to landowners under a range of projects such as Upstream Thinking, the Devon Resilience Innovation Project (DRIP), Farming in Protected Landscapes and through referrals to Catchment Sensitive Farming. South Devon Catchment partnership are involved in supporting the delivery of the Dartmoor Headwaters and Life on the Edge projects, amongst others. DRIP is working with 26 communities across Devon, typically in rapid response cathments. It is running till 2027. DRIP aims to improve catchment management at a sub or micro-catchment scale through storing higher volumes of water in the upper reaches of the catchments and slowing the flow of water in steep sided valleys. DRIP has lots of delivery work planned for 2024 which includes installation of natural flood management interventions and launch of smart technologies trials (smart gullies, surface water flood forecasting alerts, Augmented Reality sandbox), alongside continued community engagement and co-creation. A Horizon funded project called In Water is looking to unite the Catchment Partnerships together through Citizen Science in order to feed water quality, quantity and aquatic biodiversity data into different water/environment sector groups such as the Local Nature Partnerships, Regional Flood and Coastal Committees and the West Country Water Resource Group. Torbay is part of the ARSINOE European project. Case Study 8 – ARSINOE Project (arsinoe-project.eu) This aims to look at flooding in Torbay and climate adaptation solutions to reduce this in the future. There is E80k of funding to implement technological, social and environmental solutions across the whole programme. Two projects in Torbay were successful in securing funding. One will support communities to take practical adaptative actions and the other will create new technical models and tools to help our roads and other critical infrastructure plan and adapt. Torbay are also in final stages of finding a site for a Miyawaki Forest . This is part of their nature based flood alleviation plans. | • Ensuring adequate stakeholder engagement in strategic risk assessment and data sharing. • Funding not rising inline with inflation which puts immense pressure on the level of integrated catchment planning and delivery which is achievable. • The growth in the need to deliver improvements to the water environment is stretching capacity of both NGO partners and private sector expertise. • External funding sources are often focused on construction as opposed to feasibility and detailed design (capital funding heavy, revenue light). • Funding is often short-term in nature, reducing the confidence of stakesholders to plan longer term. • The availability of green skills and capacity in partners is especially acute e.g. the ability to recruit for roles like farm advisors with some roles needing to attract expertise nationally due to local constraints. • Engaging landowners and gaining agreement to deliver NFM is resource intensive and time consuming. Reports from the farming community that there are regulatory issues affecting farmers' climate adaptation efforts e.g. water abstraction licencing deterring farmers from increasing water storage on farm and the complexity of Environmental Impact Assessments for tree planting. | The Environment Agency (EA) are going to be reviewing their rapid response catchment register. This is the register of risk to life from rapid flash flooding. The review will look to extend its coverage to classify everywhere rather than setting a ‘bar’ of community size as was previously the case. Secondly, the EA are developing a catchment risk assessment method, which may complement the rapid response catchment register, in order to identify catchments vulnerable to high risk flooding e.g. due to local soils, agricultural practices and topography. The Tamar Catchment Partnership Plan is due to be refreshed in 2024 and a climate adaptation study of the Tamar Estuary Complex will be conducted. An Operational Catchment Plan for the River Yealm will be developed. Work to explore managed realignment to address coastal squeeze will be undertaken, as well as climate adaptation interventions on some of the upper tributaries in the catchment and work on areas of flood plain reconnection. East Devon Catchment Partnership and South Devon Catchment Partnership are refreshing their Plans. The Cornwall Catchment Partnership (CCP) Strategy and website are also being refreshed. CCP are also supporting the development of catchment vision plans where there is a high level of acitivty amongst partners and an environmental opportunity e.g. River Hayle Vision Plan. A number of the Catchment Partnerships are involved in Landscape Recovery Projects. East Devon and Tamar are developing Green Finance investment propositions to create Beaver Ready Habitats. South West Water has just initiated a project to develop ‘Natural Catchment Management Plans’ for approximately 14 key pilot catchments, and to develop an approach that can be rolled out to all catchments over the next 12 months. These plans will be created in close collaboration with regulators, the catchment partnerships, coastal/estuary partnerships and other key local stakeholders in each case. |
| HBE | HBEA–1 - Develop a Climate Change awareness campaign to inform stakeholders, including the public, of the projected range of changes and their impacts alongside how we are adapting and what we can all do to respond. | 34, 35, 37, 38, 41, 45 | Amber | Stakeholders in the region are engaged in a range of communication activities to increase climate change awareness. At the April and May meeting of the CIG the partnership collated a calendar of potential seasonal messaging which partners could use. The Met Office provide seasonal WeatherReady communication toolkits highlighting how the public can be ready for a range of conditions. South West Water's (SWW) Save Every Drop campaign has made reference to climate change in helping the region understand strains on water supply. SWW attend events across the region to raise awareness of the need to save water, amongst other messages, such as attending Sidmouth Folk Festival with a stand. The Environment Agency have shared social media posts explaining their work on flood schemes, including coastal defence, sustainable urban drainage and their need due to climate change. Cornwall Council has been supporting the development of the Local Climate Adaptation Tool which supports stakeholders to identify climate impacts and potential adaptation options - the latest version has now launched. Cornwall shares information about climate change through its 'lets talk' website which hosts the 'Carbon neutral Cornwall 2030 Hive' and its County specific Climate Risk Assessment. There is also a Carbon Neutral Cornwall newsletter and social media content is put out through the Council's general Facebook and Twitter accounts. The Isles of Scilly have information on climate adaptation on their website and also share content through the Council of the Isles of Scilly Facebook page. In Devon, Devon Climate Emergency share content through their social media and newsletter. Devon County Council, the District Councils, Torbay Council and Plymouth Council also share climate change impact messaging through newsletters, websites and social media, however there is more that could be done. Devon Public Health is working to better understand the needs of communities around adaptation planning so that information provision can be improved. In March 2024 Public Health Devon held a session at the Devon Prepared conference to explore Parish Councils perception of climate impacts and knowledge of actions to improve resilience. Some content shared by stakeholders is not explicitly climate change related, such as messaging targeted at Boardmasters festival by Cornwall Council highlighting the risks of heatstroke or the sharing of UK Health and Security Agency messages regarding staying safe in hot weather by Devon County Council. Cornwall Council and the Devon County Council Flood Team promoted the EA’s flash flooding campaign through public comms channels during August and September 2024. | More resource is needed to ensure that awareness is achieved across communities in the region. | A climate adaptation communications calendar for 2025 is being developed. This will list messages that can be shared linked to seasons, awareness days and events to help build consistent communications from the partner organisations. |
| HBE | HBEA–2 - Public authorities to continue to provide timely & localised information on climate change impacts to enable appropriate adaptation planning by all . | 34, 37 ,43 | Amber | Devon Community Resilience Forum is hosted by Devon Communities Together on behalf of a partnership of organisations including the Environment Agency and Devon County Council. It has targets to engage the public and help them develop Local Emergency Plans for their community. Each engaged community will be made aware of their risks and likely increases due to climate change and actions adapted to ensure such risks are mitigated. The Devon Resilience Innovation Project is working with 26 communities across Devon to improve their resilience to flooding. They are working with communities to identify flood risk issues and develop and deliver their own flood resilience interventions, including providing localised flood forecasting alerts and other smart technologies to the community to improve preparation time for flood events. Devon County Council Highways Twitter account provides updates on highways, emergencies and communities resilience. The national government tool to check flood risk by postcode area is signposted to through the DCIoS Climate Resilient website, as is the National Coastal Erosion Risk Map. The Environment Agency flood alerts share location specific warnings of flood risk in a timely manner. The Environment Agency are also in the early stages of developing a pilot project on communicating climate change impacts to a community and how best to do this, further detail to follow. The pilot will focus on one community. South West Water is undertaking engagement with the local community in Parr regarding a planned desalination project there. Plymouth's Building Resilience in Communities (BRIC) team are working with LLFA and SWW to riase awareness of climate change impacts and adpaptation methods via events, newsletters, regular email updates, household information booklet, workshops and various campaigns. Cornwall Community Flood Forum (CCFF) have been working with several communities to develop community flood plans; they’re near the end of the process with Truro and Perranarworthal, mid developing plan with Bude and St Mawes and are completing early engagement with St Ives and Saltash. They’re also supporting training new flood wardens in Lostwithiel. Ripple Effect is an environmental project led by Torbay Communities, aiming to minimise the impact of flooding in Torbay. By focusing initially on three communities, the project supports the community to develop various interventions to bolster flood resilience, completing phase 1 by March 2025. This unique project helps neighbourhoods better prepare for and recover from flooding by empowering them to enhance their resilience and readiness. | We need a better understanding of community preparedness and the information needed by communities in order to support adaptation planning. | Public Health Devon have been speaking with the Devon County Council Flood Team, Emergency Planning and Devon Climate Emergency secretariat to better understand the mental health impacts of flooding and existing provision for affected individuals. A piece of work on the mental health impacts of flooding is currently being scoped. The aim will be to work with partners and communities to improve access to trusted support with mental health and wellbeing for people affected by, or at risk of, flooding. |
| HBE | HBEE–4 - Policymakers to engage with the public to ensure awareness and understanding of the predicted impacts of climate change around the coast generally, and on their local communities specifically – to co-produce knowledge and agree viable actions. | 35, 38, 45 | Amber | The Making Space for Sand project has developed a package, formed of a series of workshops, that it is using to engage with coastal communities in Cornwall around coastal change, risk and adaptation options. Forty locations have been identified for consideration in Cornwall. Since early 2024 they have run the workshop series with three communities. The hoped output of the project is that communities will develop their own Community Resilience Action Brief and in some cases a Coastal Adaptation Plan. The Climate Emergency DPD makes Cornwall Council, as the Coast Protection Authority, a statutory consultee on all planning applications at the coast. This allows the ERA team to highlight the likely climate change impacts on sections of coast planned for development and their alignment with the Shoreline Management Plan. In Devon, District Local Authorities, Plymouth and Torbay and the Environment Agency are the Coastal Operating Authorities and policy makers. Whilst Devon County Council is not a Coastal Operating Authority they have a strong interest in the coast and the likely effects of climate change and work closely with the policy makers and responsible authorities to ensure adaptive measures are progressed to mitigate against increasing risks. The Slapton Line Partnership in Devon works to promote public awarness and community engagement in adaptation in a location where a road is at risk of being lost due to coastal erosion. As well as working to maintain the resilience of the road the partnership exists to plan and deliver adaptation actions in anticipation of future change. Public consultations have been held on a range of coastal defence schemes, including Sidmouth and Paignton and Preston. South Hams District Council funded the Bioregional Learning Centre to run a Learning Journey from June 3rd-7th, 2024. Councillors and other interested parties attended some or all of a week long programme of visits to projects and communities across South Devon which hosted and informed conversations around local adaptation. Visits included speaking with the Harbourmaster at Dartmouth and learning about responses to coastal flooding in Kingsbridge. | We need a better understanding of levels of community awareness and greater capacity to work with communities to co-produce understanding and solutions. | The Bioregional Learning Centre are producing an exhibition to capture the adaptation learning journey. They are experimenting with participatory arts, film making and installation art to bring these stories of local adaptation to life. There will also be online storytelling through blogs. The Making Space for Sand project continues to work with locations around Cornwall's coast to engage communities around coastal change. Two further communities are scheduled for engagement in the second half of 2024. Further communities will be engaged in subsequent years of the project. Cornwall Council will be undertaking engagement on the Mounts Bay strategy, which investigates options for the coast between Mousehole and Marazion. The strategy outlines an overall approach to management, with specific options for each subsection of the area. |
| HBE | HBEC–3 - Work with partners to develop the materials and training to support in the establishment and operation of local Community Resilience Groups (or similar existing groups) and the development of community adaptation plans. | 35, 37, 38 | Amber | In Devon, Devon Communities Together is funded by the Devon County Council Flood Team to host the Devon Community Resilience Forum. The Resilience Forum supports communities to develop community emergency plans which help them prepare for incidents. Community emergency plans are also uploaded to a secure website where they can be viewed by the emergency services, if there is an emergency in that community they will be able to view the plan and understand how the community may already be responding, where there is high risk, and what resources the community has. Networking and information events are held twice yearly. Grant funding is also available. Cornwall Council supports the Cornwall Community Flood Forum to work with communities to develop flood emergency plans and provide flood warden training. Isles of Scilly TBC. The Building Resilience in Communities (BRIC) project is a two year project addressing flood management from a social innovation perspective, Plymouth City Council is a participating organisation. The outputs of the projects are anticipated to be: 8 community flood resilience networks; 6 skills development schemes for disadvantaged people; 1 community of practice for community based hazard analysis; 1 web platform on flood risk management and 1 resilience toolkit on best practice, tools and guidance. Plymouth's Building Resilience in Communities (BRIC) Team are leading on a Climate Pioneer Street Campaign with support from the LLFA and SWW. The overarching aim is to 'build resilience one street at a time'. Cornwall Council is in the early stages of developing community adaptation plans at multiple locations in Cornwall, which aim to raise awareness of climate risks at a community level and identify solutions acceptable to the community. Devon Communities Together held their bi-annual Community Resilience Forum in September 24. | A greater understanding of the content of Parish emergency plans in relation to climate change is needed. | The Devon Climate Emergency Secretariat will be attending the Devon Community Resilience Forum board to help align the work of the Forum with the DCIoS Climate Adaptation Strategy. BRIC are working to build on the success of phase one and expand the initiative to other streets. |
| BIA | BIAA–3 - Develop and expand the Climate Emergency / Readiness Action group - (Steering group formed from business, public sector, and academia) to take the lead on more projects within the region (e.g. Climate Ready Clyde). | 49, 50, 54 | Green | The Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Climate Impacts Group meets monthly and has a good range of stakeholders represented. The group has been bedding in and refining its climate risk and adapation action review and monitoring processes. In 2024 a representative of the Forestry Commission and Network Rail have been invited to attend the group. The group has started to explore how it might better collaborate. An in person meeting took place on the 16th of December to explore how the Climate Impacts Group might be able to collaborate further. | There may be other stakeholders who ought to join the group, for example business and infrastructure representatives. Confirmation of attendance going forward from the South West Infrastructure Partnership is being sought. | |
| BIA | BIAB–4 - Put in place a severe weather plan and resilience measures to ensure business continuity, sign up for alerts and check insurances for coverage on flooding / severe weather events. | 49, 50, 54 | Not yet rated | Information was sought from the Environment Agency and Met Office to understand levels of subscription for weather and flood alerts in the region by businesses. The Met Office do not collect location information for those using their Hazard Manager or NSWWS products so are unable to know the uptake of these alerts within the DCIoS region. The Environment Agency have 18,732 public customers (includes residential and business flood warning registrations) on their data base currently that either have a property in, or a link to, flood alert and warning areas in the DCIoS region. Of them, 3,193 (just over 17%) have a company name in the database so are likely to be businesses. Information was also requested of the Chartered Insurance Institute. However, nationwide surveys indicate that in 2022 44% of SMEs didn't have any insurance cover. Further work is needed to establish the picture in the DCIoS region. Insurance particularly relevant to businesses include business interruption, contents insurance and buildings insurance. A request for information has been made to the South West Business Council regarding their understanding of business preparedness in the region. The Emergency Planning and Business Continuity Officers, at the Local Authorities which have this role (Teignbridge, Mid Devon, East Devon and North Devon District Councils), try to engage businesses as part of their wider community engagement. In Devon, businesses are being pointed towards the Devon Emergency Planning Partnership Business Continuity templates, however these could do with updating: https://www.depp.org.uk/business-continuity/ The Secretariat met with the South West Business Council to gain insights and explore opportunities for collaboration. The SWBC are in principle happy to share an article from Devon Climate Emergency/the Climate Impacts Group several times a year. The Secretariat commissioned Forum for the Future to conduct a review of existing business engagement regarding climate resilience and develop a business engagement plan. A workshop was held in May with CIG members to refine the scope of the work. | Accessing data on business preparedness. | Emily to send over a more detailed proposal for collaborating on business communication to the South West Business Council. |
| CC | CCA–2 - Define a regional approach (e.‘. 'One Health') to prevent the emergence of zoonotic diseases (infectious diseases transmitted between animals and people). | 61 | Amber | Chapter 8 of the Health Effects of Climate Change (HECC) report published by UKHSA in 2023 outlines the direct and indirect effects of climate change on vectors and vector borne diseases in the UK. This outlines evidence around changes in current vectors and disease and possible impact of potential invasive vectors. UKHSA monitors tick and mosquito populations through both passive and active surveillance activities, and also monitors for non-native vectors. UKHSA has contributed to developing a cross-government contingency plan following the detection of invasive mosquitoes in England, which involves a network of invasive mosquito trapping locations coordinated by UKHSA. Trading Standards Devon works closely with APHA and other agencies including Public Health in tackling the emergence of new zoonotic diseases. This was demonstrated by the recent outbreak of Avian Influenza in Devon, where a response was provided to the first UK recorded transmission from animal to humans. Response is provided at both a national and regional level and involves both an immediate response to any outbreaks and also working with partners to educate farmers and keepers of back yard flocks on the importance of good bio security. Health Protection Consultants at the SW UKHSA continue to work closely with national colleagues to monitor cases of emerging infection diseases and develop appropriate preparation and response. Devon Trading Standards operate a Trading Standards Farming Partnership with stakeholders across the joint service area. The group looks to share changes in policy and legislation along with sharing the support available to the rural community. Devon Association of Smallholders are active members of this group. At the current time both Avian Influenza and Bluetongue are key concerns, and they are actively promoting the benefits of good bio security to all stakeholders including smallholders via the Trading Standards Farming Partnership and other targeted social media outputs. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) SW Zoonoses Liaison Group was reestablished in January 2024 (was paused in 2020). This was followed by a SW Zoonoses Liaison CPD event on 20th March 2024 to scope what is needed, and to share resources on how, to prevent the emergence of zoonotic disease. Group membership and TOR were reviewed. The group met again (virtually) on 10th July 2024 and will continue biannually. Next meeting 23rd Jan 2025. UKHSA held a Learning and Development session on 24th July 2024 on the climate change and vector borne disease which outlined the key achievements of the UKHSA Centre for Climate and Health Security, what is to come, 5 key outcomes of the HECC report and an overview of emerging vector borne diseases in Europe from the UKHSA Medical Entomology group. | The UKHSA SW Zoonoses Liaison Group serves as a local link to the UKHSA national team. The group has no statutory authority for control of Zoonoses and this remains a role for local action. The regional response would benefit from a dedicated regional group to bring together stakeholders on this topic. | The application of the findings of this report now need to be considered in the SW and ensuring this sits within UKHSA, local authorities and agencies working with the environment widely to ensure direct and indirect impacts and mitigation are considered. The DCIoS Health Protection Committee, chaired by Devon’s Director of Public Health, now has a standing agenda item on climate adaptation and the Committee has been asked to give assurance on those actions in the DCIoS Climate Adaptation plan that relate to human health protection. This can then be fed into the DCIoS climate adaptation reporting cycle. Where indicators are identified that could be tracked, these will be shared. Health protection across Somerset, Devon and Cornwall are aiming to coordinate activity around tick prevention and Lyme disease awareness for spring 2025 onwards. District Councils are all linked in too, Dartmoor National Park are really keen and it is hoped Exmoor and the country parks will be involved too. A draft plan of stakeholders is being brought together and Trading Standards have been updated to try to reach their network. Following reports that West Nile virus has been detected in UK mosquitoes for the first time, Deborah Jones from Public Health Devon will ask about local surveilance and measures at teh SW Zoonoses network on the 22nd of July. She will also ask about the stance on seasonal flu vacinations for poultry workers, due to the risk of avian flu co-infection, as WHO have advised vacination but JCVI are not yet aligned with this. |
| CC | CCA–3 - Raise awareness on the impacts of anti-microbial resistance and prevention measures (e.g. reducing antibiotics use in livestock). | 61 | Amber | The Peninsula Antimicrobial Resistance Group (PARG) has been reestablished. A draft Terms of Reference was discussed in their 2nd meeting, April 2024. The remit of the group is being expanded to ensure a One Health approach is taken to AMR locally. Devon has undertaken a review of all AMR work in relation to human health and Cornwall are doing the same. There is a 5 year national action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2024-2029, published May 2024: ‘Confronting antimicrobial resistance 2024 to 2029’, contains outcomes and commitments that will make progress towards the 20-year vision for AMR to be contained, controlled and mitigated. To confront AMR, action outlined in the plan will need to be taken across all sectors (human health, animal health, agriculture and the environment). There is a South West Infection Prevention Management Strategy, but this needs expanding to consider links to animal use of antibiotics. Further criteria are being developed to add to the strategy. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) 'RCVS Knowledge' (their charity arm) runs VetTeamAMR, a national initiative that champions the responsible use of antimicrobials within companion animal, farm animal, and equine veterinary teams, part sponsored by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. Additionally, RCVS have introduced new standards in 2023 to change attitudes and prevent over prescribing of antimicrobials and anthelmintics in all species throughout the whole of the UK, in order to reduce resistance and of course environmental impacts. In Devon, Rural Support Officers employed by Devon County Council carry out inspections to farms on an intelligence and activity risked basis, looking at feed hygiene, animal health and welfare and farm records. Checking the correct recording of the use of veterinary medicines is part of these inspections as is ensuring the correct storage. Officers are not though qualified to advise on correct use of such medicines and would defer to the experience of the APHA veterinary inspectors and private vets that support farmers directly in such matters. There is ongoing research at the University of Exeter, including a €10 million Horizon Europe grant project focused on environmental pathogens and AMR in coastal waters. There is also a new interdisciplinary network, CLIMA, aimed at evaluating climate change impacts on AMR. Prof Will Gaze from the University of Exeter has shared that his research has been supported through knowledge exchange with the Environment Agency and highlighted ongoing collaborations, including a significant project called PATHSAFE, which focuses on environmental surveillance for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. He also shared that antibiotics are on the hazardous compound watchlist of the Water Framework Directive, indicating a growing recognition of the issue at policy levels. Communications were shared ( led by UKHSA) for Antimicrobial Awareness Week (18-24 Nov 2024) - reaching out to One Health colleagues including pharmacy, veterinary and farming contacts as well as via Devon County Councils internal and public facing media and through Devon Climate Emergency. | Unclear when some of the commitments from government in the new Action Plan will be fulfilled e.g. a toolkit for local use. The Peninsula Antimicrobial resistance group needs to get going for longer before great awareness is likely to have been achieved and prevention measures set out. | |
| CC | CCC–1 - Work with partners, including universities, to examine the effects of climate change on crime rates and the potential for civil disorder. | 59, 60 | Amber | Devon & Cornwall Police have commissioned a Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the service. The consultant will identify the effects of climate change on police services. The National Police Chiefs Council is collaborating on a funding bid for research to understand the future impacts on policing and fire as a consequence of climate change. The secretariat of the DCIoS CIG has enquired whether the ACCESS programme (Advancing Capacity for Climate and Environment Social Science) would be able to undertake a rapid review of evidence of the effects of climate change on crime rates and the potential for civil disorder, including domestic violence. The potential impact of climate change on domestic abuse has been raised with the Devon County Council Violence Against Women and Girls Strategic Lead. In November 24 the DCIoS CIG Secretariat met with representatives of Devon County Council, the Police and Cornwall County Council to share our understanding of the link between domestic violence and climate impacts. It was agreed that the organisations would keep in touch regarding this topic as new information comes to light. | Whilst there has been some academic / evidence-based research in this area, it’s limited and mainly US centric which may not correlate to the UK. Funding needs to be secured to support research in this area for the partnership. |
