Some good news.  In a welcome and sensible move, the meetings of the Greater Manchester Low Carbon Hub are now (re)-opened to the public.

That does NOT mean anyone can go along and say anything they like (“a public meeting”), but it DOES mean that people who want to find out what is being planned, and done (or not quite done) in Greater Manchester about the ‘low carbon economy’ can do so, and see what the organisation is up to (a “meeting in public”).

The next meeting of the Low Carbon Hub is on Friday 22nd January (as in, tomorrow!) from 10am to 12 noon.  The venue is  Room 312, Level 3, Manchester Town Hall, M60 2LA.

If you can’t go tomorrow (#shortnotice), Councillor Derbyshire is also part of a meeting that Friends of the Earth is organising about the consequences of Devolution for climate change action.  That meeting, which is free to attend, is happening on Saturday 23rd at the Methodist Hall on Oldham St.

Why did this happen?  Yesterday Manchester Climate Monthly wrote to the new(ish) Chair of the Low Carbon Hub, Councillor Sue Derbyshire, leader of Stockport Council.  We asked if in light of the recent “Compact” signed by Greater Manchester’s Interim Mayor, the meetings would be open.

Councillor Derbyshire responded extremely promptly this morning –

Dear Marc,

I agree and have asked that this be looked at urgently, occasionally there is sensitive information that has to be on a private part of an agenda but in general I would see value in as many people as possible being aware of the work of the Low Carbon Hub.

She has since confirmed that the meeting tomorrow IS open to the public. You can read the agenda here. I’ve cut and paste it below. The links take you through to papers that will be discussed.

• Agenda 22.01.16 Agenda, 18.76 KB

• Meeting Minutes 02.10.15 Minutes, 33.1 KB

• Item 3 – Climate Change Reports, 219.51 KB
• Item 4 – Performance Report Reports, 239.55 KB
• Item 5 – Health Food and Warm Homes Reports, 119.31 KB
• Item 6 – Energy Company Reports, 143.04 KB
• Item 7 – Integrated Covenants of Mayor Reports, 45.25 KB
• Item 8 – Life Integrated Project Reports, 186.97 KB
• Item 9 – Devolution Update Reports, 43.53 KB
• Item 9 – Devolution Update – Annexe Reports, 51.73 KB

MCFly says:  This is important. If (Greater) Manchester is to have a sensible response to the coming horrors, it needs to act transparently so that new thinking can come forward and trust can be (re)built with civil society. Councillor Derbyshire is to be commended for both the speed and nature of her reply. It’s now up to activists to start ‘adopting’ specific issues, reading the reports, translating them into English and making sure that the many fine words that the Low Carbon Hub generates get turned into reality.