Climate Action Plan has made 'lots of progress' in Mayo

The Community Climate Action Plan being rolled out by Mayo County Council is enjoying great success across the county with a large number of projects around energy saving and Active Travel completed and many more in hand.

In a progress report on the first two years of the plan which is funded by the Department of Climate, Environment and Energy, Mayo Climate Action Officer Laura Dixon told the June meeting of the local authority that 17 projects that were approved in Round 1 (2024) with funding of €645,210 had all been completed by the first quarter of 2026, while Round 2 (2026), which is currently underway, received funding of €678,568 with 24 projects approved and expected to be complete by the end of 2028.

Citing examples of energy savings achieved through the various projects, she noted that Áras an Chontae had confirmed an energy reduction of almost 35% between 2024 and 2025, while Lough Lannagh Leisure Centre achieved a 17% reduction, Ballina Swimming Pool had managed 14%, while Westport Leisure Centre stood at a saving of just under 2%. The council itself has also achieved huge savings through the changeover of public lights to LED, as well as through the installation of electric vehicle chargers in offices and depots, the installation of solar panels on public buildings and the transitioning of council machinery, vehicles and tools from CO2 heavy fuels to electric.

Additionally, she noted that the council has successfully matched staff home locations with work locations to reduce commuting, has approved 13 Safer Routes to School projects, provided 50km of new/upgraded cycleway paths, and retrofitted 80 houses, among many other projects.

“When we talk about this plan we talk about future proofing, in a just manner, our council, our place and our communities. As the years have progressed, we have learned from actions carried out and key performance indicators and later this year we will also publish our Mayo Biodiversity Plan.” 

Ms Dixon said the Mayo Community Climate Action Plan is highly regarded by many outside the county, adding: “It is very surprising the number of universities looking at Mayo’s plan and we get a lot of feedback and requests in relation to what we are doing, as we would be considered one of the better performing councils.” 

All of the good work was warmly welcomed by councillors, including Cllr Jarlath Munnelly, who suggested that some elements of the plan might even be too exacting. 

“Sometimes we have focused on things on the climate agenda, such as how long council trucks are idling and how long council machinery is on the road. The amount of time as a local authority we spend checking up on these things is excruciating, and we would be far better working with communities rather than going around after our truck drivers asking why was that truck idle for an hour, which happened in relation to the tar patcher, which had no choice but to stop where there were potholes. This is what gives the climate change agenda a bad name, where we are going after things like this that are idiotic, so let’s focus on the more practical things and very definitely public transport, because that is such an important agenda.”

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.