DORSET Council’s climate change strategy document has been dubbed little more than a ‘wish list’, short on detail.

The claim comes from Extinction Rebellion which persuaded the authority to adopt the green challenge in May last year.

Member Julie-Ann Booker says the group is disappointed that, after 15 months, there is still no timetable and no costs for the strategy.

The council says that work is still continuing and further details will be available in the autumn.

Said Ms Booker: “A strategy should be a document that shapes the future. Setting out and describing a vision of the end goal and actions for reaching it. Unfortunately, the draft strategy’s second half sets out little more than a ‘wish list’ around a number of themes. Without any priorities, costs, targets or detailed action plans. Given how long it has been since Dorset Council declared an emergency this is indeed disappointing,” she said in the preamble to a question at this week’s cabinet meeting.

The councillor in charge of a series of meetings which shaped the draft strategy, Cllr Ray Bryan, promised that the action plan would be completed and presented to the October cabinet meeting.

“Work is now taking place on a costed detailed action plan which will map out Dorset Council’s journey to being carbon neutral by 2040.... Our action plan will set out our objectives, specific detailed actions, who in Dorset Council will be responsible, timescales and performance measures. We will also include details of other key partners required to help deliver these actions, the scale of potential carbon savings and the associated co-benefits (health, economy, ecology and resilience),” he said.

Answering other public questions Cllr Bryan said the council’s strategy proposals would be communicated through a wide variety of media in a way which was easy to understand and respond to.

He claimed that the strategy would bring about “significant reductions in carbon emissions well in advance of the 2040 target.”

Tackling a question about why ‘energy from waste’ had been excluded from the draft strategy document, although the council favoured the method, Cllr Bryan said that all future waste treatment methods would be explored “taking into account environmental and ecological impact assessments.” This, he said, was likely to next be reviewed in 2022 when the council is due to update its Joint Municipal Waste Strategy for Dorset, a policy it has with the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council.

“Any updated strategy will take into account local, national and international changes,” said Cllr Bryan.