Climate change sends £16.4m bill (From Witney Gazette)

Climate change sends £16.4m bill

9:00am Wednesday 15th November 2006 in Witney By Reg Little

CLIMATE change has already cost Oxfordshire County Council £16.4m, it was claimed last week.

s=8More than 260 costly weather-related incidents have been recorded by the council over the last ten years.

Earlier this month, the Stern Review predicted that the effects of climate change could cost countries between five and 20 per cent of the wealth they produce.

But County Hall says it can already blame climate change for some of the multi-million-pound repair bills that the council has faced in recent years.

If the bill were to take into account the cost to businesses and householders in Oxfordshire, the cost would come to hundreds of millions, according to Nika Robertson, the county's environment manager.

She said: "The £16.4m figure is just the tip of the iceberg, based on insurance claims and road repair bills."

The £16.4m figure is an estimate based on a series of incidents, some of which brought disruption and chaos to the county.

The list includes: * The drought of 2003/4, with more than 50 roads hit by two extremely dry winters and summers. Major routes through the county were disrupted ,as roads buckled, with the cost of reconstruction work put at £3.6m.

* Floods in January 2003 saw homes, businesses, and two schools flooded. Tesco in Abingdon was closed for three days, with losses to the company put at £500,000. Abingdon and Botley Roads, in Oxford, were flooded, as was the Oxford-Didcot railway line.

* Flooding in 2000 hit 240 properties. Twelve commercial properties on one flooded industrial estate alone were left with damage of £15,000.

* This summer's heatwave, which caused schools to close, resulted in loss of teaching hours, loss in working hours for parents, and increased pressure on childcare services. A total of 970 children were affected.

The £16.4m total includes the cost of emergency provision, including supplying water bottles to motorists stuck in summer queues.

But it does not even take into account staff time at councils and other organisations involved in tackling problems.

The added financial pressure being put on County Hall by increasingly extreme weather conditions was spelt out as the county council announced plans to work on a pioneering project with the UK Climate Impacts Programme to help the council prepare for future impacts. It will also examine ways of trying to hold down costs.

County Hall says it is also putting together a new carbon management strategy aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 20 per cent. Work being undertaken includes expanding recycling across the county, exploring on site renewable energy generation, including biomass and installing energy efficient boilers and cavity insulation in the council's buildings.

Ms Robertson said that almost half of all schools were classed as Eco-School and looking at ways of saving energy.