Councillors will debate Enfield’s climate action plan after concerns were raised over a lack of public consultation and possible green belt development.

Enfield Council’s Climate Action Plan, adopted in July, is designed to cut the borough’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2040 by tackling emissions from the council and other sources.

But members of the Conservative group have raised several concerns about the strategy, and it will be discussed at a meeting of the overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday.

The Conservative councillors claim the plan was “adopted without public consultation” and – although this was partly down to the coronavirus pandemic – suggest it could have been delayed to allow people to have their say.

While the climate plan sets out a role for the green belt in carbon reduction, the Tories say it “does not explain how this fits with the local plan policy, as the draft document states that the council might look at potentially releasing parts of the green belt for development”.

And they claim that while the plan has a section asking the Government to take action on climate change, it does not make similar requests of the Mayor of London.

In response, council officers say members of the public were invited to comment on the plan during a six-week period in March and April.

A public event planned at the Dugdale Centre was cancelled due to Covid-19 – but officers say there has been “ongoing engagement” involving Labour and Conservative councillors, climate change organisations, members of the public and council staff. They add that further delays were ruled out because the council “needs to move forward with delivering its response to a global emergency”.

Officers say it is “entirely appropriate” for green belt land to be considered as part of the Enfield Local Plan, and the vision set out in the climate action plan “can inform this process, including the collection of the supporting evidence which will underpin the new Enfield Local Plan”.

They add that the document does have a section with calls for support from the Mayor of London.

The meeting of the overview and scrutiny committee will be held on Tuesday, August 11 at 6pm as a virtual meeting, available online.

Further information is available here.