We have teamed up with Enterprise Car Club to improve the options for staff travel and enable our staff to travel in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way, supporting the Council’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.

From this month, staff at the Council will be able to book one of three electric Nissan Leaf cars for work journeys. The initial scheme is for Council staff, and the longer term plan is to widen the scope to include a community car club. Staff who register for the scheme will also be able to use other Enterprise electric and low emission vehicles at a range of sites around the country, further increasing choice for staff who need to travel for work purposes.

It is all part of the Council’s ongoing work to become carbon neutral and tackle climate change both within the organisation and across the wider Torbay. Other recent measures have included installing heat pumps at a number of council owned buildings, securing funding for more electric charging points, supporting active travel (such as walking and cycling), and working with partners such as Exeter Community Energy to help people keep their homes warm and reduce heating bills.

In addition to being better for the environment, the new scheme will help cut down on costs, reducing the need for staff to claim expenses and cutting wear and tear on staff’s own cars. It is estimated by Enterprise that the reduction in corporate travel costs could be as much as 25% in per mile business travel reimbursement costs if enough people use the pool cars.

Dave Thomas, Leader of Torbay Council, said: “We are delighted to be able to launch this new greener travel option for staff together with Enterprise Car Club as part of our work internally, and wider work with all our partners on the Torbay Climate Partnership, to reduce Torbay’s carbon footprint and become more sustainable.

“Transport is responsible for 30 per cent of Torbay’s emissions and we know our staff are travelling around the Bay frequently, often in personal vehicles that are not low or zero emissions, so this scheme is really important as well as promoting other options such as public transport and more active travel where possible such as walking and cycling.”

Dan Gursel, Managing Director of Enterprise Car Club, said: “We are delighted to work with Torbay Council to support their efforts in promoting sustainable travel for their employees by providing zero-emission electric cars.

“We are working with an increasing number of organizations around the country who want to provide their staff with an alternative to using their own cars for work journeys. By providing access to modern, low or zero emission cars, employees, and organizations benefit from lower costs and a reduction in carbon footprint.

“Council staff who have access to the car club vehicles for work purposes can also join the Enterprise Car Club for personal use, for free, giving them access to 1,400 car club vehicles across the UK.”

Benefits of the new staff car scheme include:

• Reducing CO2 emissions with younger, greener vehicles
• Reducing costs both for the employer and staff
• Improving air quality
• Staff avoid wear and tear on their own vehicles
• Access to other Enterprise vehicles around the country for those who register

Picture caption: Left to right are Leader of Torbay Council Dave Thomas, Deputy Leader Chris Lewis with Philip Wright, Keiran Allen and Shane Crawley from Enterprise.

·        Sign up for Carbon Literacy Training in Torbay!

Torbay Climate Action, a community interest company, are running a number of Carbon Literacy courses for local residents.

The courses are on Saturday 21 October and Saturday 25 November, from 9am to 5pm at The Climate Hub, 4 Clifton Road Paignton TQ3 3LN.

The course starts at the beginning to provide you with understanding the basic facts about climate change, and how carbon emissions are contributing to this rapid change to our home, we can be better equipped to take positive action together. As part of the course you will create a Personal Carbon Action Plan and once this is complete you will receive a certificate from the Carbon Literacy Project.

The day will consist of a range of styles, from presentation, group discussion, individual planning time and break time. Drinks and light refreshments will be provided.

You must be over 18 to do the course.

You can sign up for the courses via TCA’s Eventbrite page.

If you have any questions about the course you can contact David and Rae at hello@torbayclimateaction.uk