Back in Horsham I had the pleasure of being asked to open the Plant to Plate Festival, organised by Sussex Green Living. Led by the seemingly inexhaustible Carrie Cort, they do a fantastic job in spreading the environmental message by sheer enthusiasm. Visitors joined a series of presentations about healthy cooking or positive gardening, as well as renewable energy advice and practical services such as refills and the Repair Café, which are offered on a regular basis.
We should also acknowledge the achievement of Horsham District Council with the latest recycling rates. Horsham is now second in the entire country among councils not collecting food waste separately (a service which will start next year). This is down to everyone’s effort in sorting domestic waste carefully, so it’s easy to process and we get best value for the by-products.
This Parliament is shaping up to be an important one for the environment. The government has launched a national Land Use survey to look at the competing needs of agriculture, nature, housing and the renewable energy industry; all of which have a reasonable claim to make on the same limited land space.
But the most consequential decision for this year will be a reform of energy pricing. Our energy prices are among the highest in Europe - but contrary to some reports that’s not because of the drive to renewables. For historical reasons our charges are set by the international price of gas, which has soared since the invasion of Ukraine. Other countries such as Germany have much higher green subsidies than us but also much lower energy prices. That’s because they are less dependent on gas.
Because of our obsolete pricing system, the far lower costs of production enjoyed by renewable energy systems like wind and solar are not passed onto the consumer or industry. It’s time we switched to a system that shows the real benefit of renewables, so we can support industry and hard-pressed households everywhere.