In December the Council asked Camden residents: “How ready are we for a changing climate?” The aim of asking residents for their views is so that Camden can better understand community experiences of extreme weather events. Camden said:
“Extreme weather events such as flooding, overheating, and drought, are now occurring more frequently than ever before. We all experienced this in the summer with the two-day heatwave, and extreme cold is also likely to occur in a more volatile climate. We need to ensure residents, vital services, and businesses in the borough are able to adapt when such events happen.
We will shortly be presenting a new strategy to the council’s cabinet setting out our approach to managing flood risk in Camden, but we need to go further than this and consider all weather extremes. Next year, we will be developing our first Climate Resilience Plan and we want our communities to be a part of this journey.”
They invited us to respond to a survey. Feedback received from the survey should help inform the Climate Resilience Plan and, crucially, should enable Camden to develop its services in line with community needs in order to ensure that we are better prepared for these events in the future.
BelSoc responded under their various headings with the following suggestions
- produce an information sheet to be delivered to every household on which hazards are possible and how to respond to them
- issue warnings of forecasted hazardous events in social media and the local press
- create a team to assist those in difficulty and to help clear up after any damage
- install public drinking water dispensers
- maintain drinking fountains and pools for children
- subsidise the issue of water butts
- discourage non-porous hard standings
- ensure that street and park drains are kept clear
- issue flood barriers to vulnerable properties
- provide free advice in the home on retrofitting insulation, solar panels and heat pumps
- continue discouraging the use of fossil fuels
- encourage the planting and maintenance of trees and hedges.
The Council are hoping to arrange a number of small workshops to talk more specifically about experiences and to share ideas about how to prepare collectively for the future and we hope to be able to participate.