SOME readers might wonder how environmentally Brighton and Hove is when compared with other local council areas.

According to an independent report from the Environmental Pressure Group “Friends Of The Earth” featured on their national website, there is much more that needs to be done in achieving environmental targets in the Brighton and Hove City Council area.

The Friends Of The Earth (FOE) Assessment, which is based on official data, says that “Brighton and Hove area’s performance on climate change is poor compared with other Local Authority areas”.

Despite having had a “Green” council and a “Green” MP, there are considerable improvements that need to be made with public transport issues, insulation of homes, recycling waste and providing renewable energy.

This FOE Assessment gives the council an assessment of 56 per cent compared with the top local authority which is Wiltshire Unitary Authority with 92 per cent, which is a bit of an embarrassment for this city.

It is quite well known that the proportion of waste recycled by Brighton and Hove Council in recent years is quite low at 25 to 30 per cent and measures need to be taken to improve on this.

The city council has also failed to grasp the opportunity to introduce innovative park and ride schemes, which could have helped to reduce congestion and pollution.

And we need more “eco-homes”, such as those proposed by the Liberal Democrats in the Hollingbury area, which have high standards of insulation and other energy efficiency measures, thereby also saving on running costs for the residents.

We have had plenty of rhetoric from the so-called “Green Party” politicians in recent years yet many of their proposals have been counter-productive and ineffective.

There are often different options available to help improve our environment and sometimes these are the “tried and tested” initiatives that have been introduced by other local councils.

Rob Heale, Address supplied