SOUTH Somerset District Council has joined the county council and other districts by declaring a climate emergency.

Protestors sporting placards, banners and the Extinction Rebellion logo gathered outside the council’s Yeovil headquarters on Tuesday evening (May 21), demanding the authority take action to protect the environment for future generations.

The protestors briefly succeeded in hanging a banner on the roof of the council building’s entrance, before it was removed by officials.

At the first full council since the local elections, elected members voted unanimously to declare an emergency, prompting applause in the chamber.

Officers will consult with the public over the summer with a full action plan coming back to the full council in the autumn.

A number of protestors spoke during the meeting, with children as young as eight years old pleading the council to take action.

Evelyn Walton, aged eight, said: “The ice is melting quickly and we need to do something fast. Our future is in danger – please help to save the planet.

“The world’s heart is a group of people who care – are you one of them?”

Nine-year-old Eve Tizzard added: “For my 21st birthday, I don’t want a Ferrari or a phone – I want a future. Now it’s time to put the fire out on our planet.”

Julian Brooks called on the council to “play a full part in making the district carbon-neutral by 2025″, including a commitment to plant 100,000 trees.

He added: “You have within the district many skilled and dedicated people who want to help South Somerset be a leader in this.”

Joy Carney said that existing initiatives such as recycling were “not enough when we’re facing climate extinction.”

She went on to say:  “I’m dressed in black – I’m in mourning for the hedgehogs that no longer visit my garden, for the cuckoos I don’t hear in the spring, and the skylarks in the fields. But also, for the possible loss of the Levels.”

“Put this issue beyond politics – unite, come together and work together. Act now.”

Climate emergencies were declared at Somerset County Council, Mendip District Council and Somerset West and Taunton Council in February, with Sedgemoor District Council following suit in March.

Councillor Henry Hobhouse – who put forward the climate emergency motion for South Somerset – said he was “at a dead loss” as to how Mendip would meet its 2030 target, but he did promise that all the council’s buildings would be carbon-neutral by 2023.

He also said he was “horrified” by recent government legislation which increased the VAT on solar panels – making it harder for local authorities to ensure developers install them on new properties.

He said: “We as a council can only do so much. The majority of our petrol-based products are used in the domestic sphere.

“We will do everything we can to educate people, but we are unable to force people – if you wish to force anyone, you will have to go through the government.”

Council leader Val Keitch added: “When future generations look back at how we responded to this crisis, we want them to be proud of what we’ve done, and know that we’ve cared not just for our generation, but for them as well.”

Councillor Graham Oakes stressed the need to keep the public closely involved as the council’s strategy developed, before it comes back to the full council for approval in the autumn.

He said: “The reality is the problems we face are so big that we could consider them too big to solve. What we need to do is to do what we can – because it’s better to do something when everything is going wrong than to do nothing and say ‘wasn’t my fault’.

“I would urge the public who care passionately this to feed into the system and help us make the changes that our children and grandchildren need.”

Councillors voted unanimously to approve the motion and declare a climate emergency – prompting applause in the chamber.

Speaking afterwards, protestor Emma Walton said: “We feel there is a will to act now, but powers are limited by our government who have actively disrupted initiatives that might have made some progress.

“We will not be dropping the pressure off either the district or county council, despite the good words, and future acts of civil disobedience and non-violent direct action will possibly be in order to wake our leaders up to the gravity of the catastrophic situation we are in.”