Warwickshire News Mine

Warwickshire County Council has won acclaim nationally at the British Environment and Media Awards presented by World Wildlife Fund after clinching the award for `Best Environmental Website’.

The website http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/environment won particular praise from judges for its high impact and the breadth of information offered in helping residents to live more sustainably in the county.

John Deegan, Director of the Department of Planning, Transport and Economic Strategy, said: “I’m delighted to see such high profile and public recognition for an awful lot of hard work put in as part of our commitment to ensuring a sustainable environment.

“The website has become another string to our many resources in driving home the sustainable living message. We are constantly pushing the boundaries here in Warwickshire, whether it’s increasing the amount we are recycling, encouraging staff to travel to work in a sustainable way or developing environmentally friendly buildings such as the Eliot Park Innovation Centre in Nuneaton – it is all making a difference.”

Cllr Martin Heatley, the county’s Cabinet member for Environmental Services, said: “The environmental pages of the website have become a vital resource in helping people to live a `greener’ life. It’s presented in a user friendly way, and it demonstrates that changing habits to become more environmentally friendly don’t have to be at all earth shattering.’’

The website contains a host of information on:

- sustainable travel, encouraging the use of car sharing, cycling, walking and public transport. (Up to 45,000 bus timetables are downloaded each year.)
- waste, with details of opportunities to recycle, reduce and reuse and including planning for waste
- planning to ensure we develop sustainable communities through regeneration and development control
- reducing energy use and carbon emissions to help tackle climate change (these pages are under development)

The Warwickshire website as a whole has more than 5,000 pages and was visited by 1.3million people last year making nearly five million visits and viewing 35 million pages.

Other BEMA award winners at the ceremony this week included the Awareness Award to HRH The Prince of Wales; Award for Best Coverage of Environmental Issues by a Magazine to Country Living; and The Northumbrian Water Award for Best Television News and Current Affairs Coverage to Channel 4 News – America Tackles Climate Change.

Link to WCC