PEOPLE living in Bradford on Avon have been urged to work together as a community to tackle climate change and its impact on the environment.

The call came from several keynote speakers at the Greener Bradford event held at Holy Trinity Church last Saturday.

They included Chippenham MP Michelle Donelan, the Right Rev Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury, and the town’s mayor Cllr Alex Kay.

The event was organised by churchwarden Jane Jones and brought together the town’s climate change, environmental and sustainable living organisations.

The local MP said: “A schoolgirl once told me, ‘Why don’t people realise that when we grow up, the world will be ours’.

“It is up to us as a community, and as a country, to learn how to deal with these challenges but also to contribute as individuals.”

Rt Rev Holtam, the lead Bishop on the environment for the Church of England, said: “It needs the young people in the community to hold us to account.

“The economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment. There is no Planet B,” he told the audience.

Cllr Alex Kay said the town was already making great progress towards using renewable energy and reducing the use of single-use plastic items.

The council recently agreed to install solar panels on the south side of the St Margaret’s Hall roof and has committed to supporting the Plastic-free Bradford on Avon campaign.

She added: “We are coming together as a community to see what we can do to save our planet and as a community to protect the environment.”