Call for ‘Dragon’s Den’ contest to help protect Norfolk’s environment
I am asking councillors to launch a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style contest to help protect Norfolk’s environment. I’m proposing that a new Eco Award is set up to encourage environment-saving ideas.
Norfolk’s Eco Awards are well established and reward community groups, schools and residents for the difference they make to the environment at a local level. But the budget for the awards is tiny. A new prize would help encourage people to grow their ideas in a way that could benefit the whole county or even beyond.
The motion will be put to the meeting of Norfolk County Council on 21st September. It is seconded by Independent Group leader Sandra Squire. Councillor Squire led the campaign for the County Council to plant 1 million trees to offset carbon emissions.
The full text of the motion is:
Proposer: Cllr Ed Maxfield
Seconder: Cllr Sandra Squire.
Norfolk’s natural environment is one of the County’s most valuable assets. Every year schools, community groups, businesses and individuals get the chance to show how they are making a positive difference to their local environment through the Council’s Eco Awards. The current budget for the Awards is just £5,500 including contributions from sponsors and from Norwich City Council. We can do more to unlock the power of local innovation by adding an ‘Environmental Dragon’s Den’ to the Awards programme with a substantial reward for the best idea that can be rolled out across the county. Accordingly we call on the County Council to: – Actively seek contributions to the prize fund from the Districts that are not currently contributing to the Eco Awards – Create a new £10,000 prize to the Eco Awards to support ideas that can be scaled up to make a difference across the county – Include this new prize in the 2021 Eco Awards programme as a trial with a view to making it a permanent feature of the awards.