Colchester Council carbon emissions fall by more than 10 per cent

A strategic plan and performance report, which reviews whether the council has met a range of objectives between 2020 and 2023, will be considered by the council’s cabinet in a meeting set to take place on Thursday, September 14.

The city's tourism sector has performed above expectations, with Colchester Castle’s visitor numbers for the 2022-23 financial year exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

An overall figure of 89,634 visited the landmark over a one-year period, a figure only previously reached in the years immediately after the castle’s redevelopment in 2014.

The council also took steps to encourage more groups to visit the city with a coach and group tourism incentive with free bookable parking for coaches. 

They also offered refreshment and shopping vouchers for drivers and a discount to the castle. 

In the first year of the scheme 50 groups registered bringing nearly 2,000 additional visitors to the city centre between May and Dec 2022.

The report also revealed a reduction of Colchester Council’s carbon emissions by 10.1 per cent since 2020, with a 17.5 hectare solar park at the Northern Gateway development expected to bring the authority’s carbon emissions down further.

As well as consider the climate emergency, the strategic plan and performance report considers how well the council has fared on creating safe communities, delivering homes, growing the economy, and celebrating the city’s heritage and culture.

Green travel – the strategic report said improvements had been made to the cycling route from the city centre to Greenstead and Essex University (Image: Newsquest)

On housing, the council has delivered 390 homes since 2020, with further developments expected in Braiswick and Copford over the next three-year period.

Ambitious – Mark Cory, Colchester Council's portfolio holder, said he still wanted to see a greater portion of new homes to be affordable (Image: Mark Cory)

Councillor Mark Cory, the council’s portfolio holder for resources, added providing affordable housing remains one of his top priorities.

He said: “I think we need to go further with pushing developers to deliver more affordable housing, and work with Essex County Council to deliver more of the infrastructure we need [to support more homes]."

As for the increase in castle visitors, Mr Cory said: “We are getting better at showing off our historic heritage assets, and the museum team does some great work in terms of putting forward interesting exhibitions which make Colchester more of a destination for people to visit.”