Many residents had written to me in recent months genuinely fearful that they lived off grid in a rural area or an older property and had heard about plans to ban replacement boilers from 2026. Around 1 in 5 households across our community are estimated to be off the gas grid, many of them pensioners on limited means, so this was a very real concern. Removing this fear of an impending boiler ban was one of the pragmatic and proportionate measures announced by the Prime Minister last week.
I yield to no one when it comes to protecting our nature, the special landscape of the South Downs National Park and our Dark Skies – each are priorities for me as a local Member of Parliament. But, whilst 2050 is the right goal to reduce our carbon emissions, it is also right to take a pragmatic approach to individual targets along the way. The adoption of new clean, low-carbon technologies doesn’t follow straight lines – in fact as a country we are running ahead of our ambitious plan to reduce emissions by 68% by 2030. That’s a bigger amount than any other G20 country so we should be proud of our track record.
For those in Petworth, it’s excellent news that hundreds will enjoy upgraded broadband speeds in the town. 152,000 homes across West Sussex already have access to superfast broadband, but those those who still suffer slow speeds will be pleased to know that the £100 million of ‘Project Gigabit’ funding to improve rural connections is on the way, delivered in the coming months.
I was delighted to visit local charity Tyler’s Trust at their family fun day in Barnham this weekend. Tyler Murphy, who set up the charity after suffering a brain tumour at the age of 12, was selected as a finalist in the fundraiser of the year category in this year’s Pride of Britain awards. I commend their amazing work.
