MEMBERS of Watchet Town Council will be proposing to plant trees wherever they can on council-owned land, and are looking into all kinds of possibilities to help deal with the climate emergency – even whether dog pooh can be used for biofuel.

The council agreed a resolution at a recent meeting, that it recognises there is a climate emergency, which requires it to take measures that promote: reducing, reusing and recycling; becoming a plastic free town; having clean air.

A recent report by the council’s climate change working group, outlined a number of potential activities to investigate under each of these strands, and the need to involve the community in deciding which to take forward.

On Monday (December 2), Cllr Sean Terrett, a member of the working group, looked at all council land in the town, to identify sites where trees could be planted.

“The Woodland Trust is offering trees to communities, and we will bring a specific proposal for this to January’s full council meeting,” said Cllr Peter Murphy, also a member of the working group.

Examples of actions which could be the focus of activity to look into in Watchet, were outlined in the report, including the one on dog pooh.

“We’re not suggesting there’s any science behind this one, it’s just a suggestion thrown into the mix, and we have a list of possibles to investigate – but it may not have legs,” Cllr Murphy said.

“We think the way forward is to try and work with West Somerset Together [a group that actively campaigns to support the community and look after the environment], and convene an event in Watchet that builds on a recent workshop at Roadwater.

“We can’t do this on our own, we have to take the community with us and work with community groups to progress matters,” he said.

Potential activities the working group will look into were detailed in the report, under the different categories.

As part of work on becoming a plastic-free town, the working group will consider action for raising awareness, water bottle refills, plastic bags and single use, plastic food wrapping, beach cleans.

See the potential activities it will investigate in today’s Free Press.