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Snapshot of progress on the Council Plan

Climate and environment progress snapshot

Our Equalities and Human Rights 'snapshot of progress' will be updated every 6 months to provide details of our activity, as we work to deliver the Council Plan; One City, for all.

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For our core commitment to Climate and environment and the climate emergency, we know the race to net zero is more urgent than ever and we will understand the impact our actions have on the environment. We will prepare for the future, adapting our city to extreme climate events and enhancing our environment for future generations to enjoy.

Priority actions

Find out more about progress on each priority action related to climate and environment:

Priority action: Improve air quality beyond the UK’s national guidelines.

Progress by September 2025:

  • Air Quality Action Plan 4 was approved by Executive on 18 July 2024. Air Quality Annual Status Report 2024 indicates improvements in air quality across the city centre Air Quality Management Area and wider city compared to 2022 with progress against a range of activities that contribute to better air quality. City of York Council Fourth Air Quality Action Plan. The Gillygate trial to tackle the city's worst air quality hotspot began in January 2025
  • We have amended the timings on the traffic signals at either end of Gillygate, to reduce the amount of standing traffic. Early indications suggest this has had a positive impact on air quality and brought additional benefits, including fewer delays for buses using Clarence Street.
  • The refreshed Climate Change Action Plan was approved by Executive in November 2024. Executive also adopted the Civil Penalties for Smoke Emissions within Smoke Control Areas Policy in November 2024
  • York Green Streets has completed planting of over 2,700 trees in York's urban environment, including 2 new micro-woods at Burnholme and Rawcliffe, which means we've have now reached a total of 5,300 trees and exceeded the Council Plan target of 4,000 trees by 2027. This work was fully funded by over £450,000 of external grants. Due to the exceptionally dry Spring, some trees failed. This was monitored and trees will be replaced this winter at no cost to the council.
  • We met national targets at all air quality monitoring points for the first time (barring covid, when national restrictions on travel were in place). We ran a consultation on expanding the Smoke Controlled Area to the whole of York in line with our commitments under AQAP4, which we continue to work on alongside the actions in our Local Transport Plan and upcoming Movement and Place Plan.
  • We provided financial support to taxi drivers through our DEFRA funded Low Emission Taxi Grant scheme until June 2024 (when all funding had been allocated). The project encouraged the transition to low emission taxis within York, via the use of incentives and awareness raising. At the end of December 2024, 40% of CYC licensed taxis were using low emission petrol hybrid or zero tailpipe emission electric vehicles.
  • First Bus has set up one of its first net zero emission bus operations in the city. The York depot is the first in Yorkshire and one of the first outside London to be fully electric, and £10.2 million funding of the £23 million project was secured by City of York Council from the Department for Transport ZEBRA scheme. The depot has seen emissions reduce by 90% compared to 2020 with the total fleet of 86 all-electric buses saving around 5,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.
  • At January 2025, 60% of CYC's operational van fleet were electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
  • We continued upgrade of our public electric vehicle charging network, consisting of 'fast', 'rapid' and 'ultra-rapid' charge points, as outlined in our existing Public Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy. Data published in January 2024 shows that York has 104 charge points per 100,000 people. A research study undertaken in March 2024, conducted by 'Independent Advisor Car Insurance', concluded that York is the 4th best city in the UK for EV's and was ranked number 1 in the North of England for EV ownership.

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Priority action: Prioritise safe active travel in our Movement plan and in routes to school.

Progress by September 2025:

  • The consultation on the Local Transport Strategy invited children and parents to explore the importance of prioritising safe active travel. The Local Transport Strategy has been approved by Executive.
  • The draft Local Transport Strategy Implementation Plan proposed a significant package of measures to enable active travel and create safe routes to schools, Local Transport Strategy Implementation Plan 2024 to 2026 and will be further updated in 2026.
  • As part of the priorities identified in the Movement and Place framework, the work around School Streets viability has progressed well. An initial officer workshop was held, and we have now assessed the viability of all primary schools in the city, with a view to several pilot schools adopting the scheme within the school year.
  • A new £4 million Active Travel Fund was launched by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, giving local groups the opportunity to bid for funding to improve walking, cycling, and wheeling infrastructure across the region. Funded projects will run between September 2025 and April 2028.
  • We recently approved 20mph speed limits for all of Bishopthorpe village. This is part of our commitment to making our streets safer for everyone and enabling more people to choose to walk, wheel and cycle. We now have funding secured, to deliver more community speed reduction schemes, and will be progressing these over the coming year.

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Priority action: Showcase renewable energy and retrofit expertise, with a ‘Green Skills Village’ at its heart.

Progress by September 2025:

  • Construction York skills initiative is now live and aims to equip York residents with the relevant skills, qualifications and experience to progress in construction and take advantage of the carbon reduction initiatives coming online in the city.
  • We continue to work with York Central developers and the wider Construction Skills Partnership on the potential for a Construction Skills Centre in the city, taking into account the findings of a feasibility study (funded by UK Government) that was completed earlier this year.

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Priority action: Ensure the benefits of a low carbon society are shared widely, while also supporting those who stand to lose economically.

Progress by September 2025:

  • The Retro-Fit One Stop Shop York (ROSSY) project received £3 million from Innovate UK and has been progressing well. Our first demonstrator home on Vine Street, opened for bookings in September 2025 and local businesses, local landlords and members of the public are able to visit and learn more about the benefits and possibilities of retrofitting.
  • The Local Energy Advice Demonstrator Project (LEAD) finished in April 2025 and we have recently received an extremely positive letter from the Dept for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) with congratulations, commendation and thanks for our work in this area. As part of this project, the total number of consumers our project provided with in person advice was 475 and the number of homes with measures installed was 50.
  • 45 homes had 115 measures completed to improve insulation and reduce carbon usage, under the Home Upgrade Grant Phase 2 (HUG2) programme
  • We continued to promote our 'Kick the Habit' anti-idling campaign on Clean Air Day and throughout 2024 and worked with partners including schools and businesses to reduce the incidence of vehicle idling across the city, including the erection of permanent anti-idling signage in all CYC owned car parks, at most city centre bus stops, taxi ranks and at other key locations across the city. Further information about the campaign can be found on our Kick the Habit Webpage.
  • A report was published in March 2025, setting out proposals to manage the burning of the most polluting solid fuels and the appliances they are burnt in across City of York Council's (CYC) area. The proposals complement CYC's DEFRA funded 'Fuel for Thought' campaign, initially launched in November 2023, to raise awareness of the links between burning solid fuels, pollution and health
  • Our annual walking festival took place in September 2025 with a programme of ideas on how to explore the city on foot. The festival, organised by Council's iTravel team, aims to encourage active travel and reduce vehicle emissions.
  • Solar for Schools has installed 2,468 panels across eight schools and academies in York and in the last year over 530MWh of energy has been produced, saving over 121t of CO2 being released. That's enough to provide electricity for over three hundred homes for the same time period.

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Priority action: Develop a Movement Plan as a statement of intent to make it easier to move through the city, reducing traffic around primary schools and making significant progress towards reducing carbon by 71% and traffic by 20% for discussion with the new Mayor.

Progress by September 2025:

  • The Movement and Place framework was approved as part of the wider Local Transport Strategy by Executive on 18 July 2024 and we are in the process of procuring a delivery partner to deliver this plan, which will align with our planned refresh of the Local Transport Strategy Implementation Plan 2024 to 2026
  • The city celebrated the grand opening of the new York Central travel routes, a highlight of which is Hudson Boulevard, a 480-meter-long landscaped public realm space featuring wide cycling and walking paths, comfortable benches, a stunning rain garden and better bus connectivity.
  • We recently completed a public consultation around proposed improvements to our Park and Ride sites around the City and we are now in a position to move forwards with the improvements, which will include provision of overnight parking, EV charging points and various upgrades to facilities such as toilets and ticket office areas. Visitors to the Park and ride sites will also see improved signage, pathways and lighting with a more modern design. We have, with the support of First Group, also extended the hours of operation for the Park and Ride to 5.30am to 10.30pm Monday to Saturday across all sites.
  • The Station Frontage scheme continues to progress. Visible improvements are already in place, including new bus stops, wider footpaths and better views of the historic walls, greeting people as they arrive in the city. These modernisations are vital to support growth, unlock the full potential of York Central, and provide a gateway to the city and the region to fully leverage economic growth and business ecosystems.
  • We have commissioned transport consultants to run an independent consultation in five key areas across the city to help us understand the transport infrastructure and interventions required to best reduce car dependency, the first stage of developing a comprehensive Movement and Place Plan for the city.
  • Despite cuts to most road building projects, our lobbying secured us funding to progress the first phase of the important outer ring road scheme, enabling us to unlock development sites and deliver vital affordable housing for the city, plus remove vehicle traffic and congestion from the city centre.

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Priority action: Take decisive action to reduce emissions improving the quality of existing council housing and launch a one-stop shop to support households retrofitting their properties.

Progress by September 2025:

  • During the last year we launched Yorenergy, which offers comprehensive retrofit solutions to optimise energy efficiency in people's homes. With our free expert guidance and personalised energy saving tips, the aim is to empower people to make informed decisions that reduce energy bills and enhance living spaces for everyone. Yorenergy also offers support to community groups and facilities looking to reduce emissions and lower energy bills. A total of 523 enquiries have been handled since the website launched in October 2024.
  • Earlier this year, The council was awarded two grants, approximately £1.4 million will be used to improve the efficiency of around 140 council homes via the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund. The second grant, approximately £2 million will be used to improve the energy efficiency of around 140 homes for lower income homeowners through the Warm Homes: Local Grant Scheme
  • We have invested around £1.6million in external grant funding in installing upgrades to some of our Independent Living properties, Alex Lyon House and Honeysuckle House have been fitted with Solar Panels, additional radiators in communal areas and Air Source Heat Pumps.
  • 34 new homes, have been built to Passivhaus standards, at Duncombe Square, providing comfortable, high-quality homes that reduce energy use and bills.
  • Innovate UK awarded the Council and partners £3.3 million to develop a retrofit one-stop-shop; the proposal includes 2 demonstrator homes, based in council houses and working with suppliers to make it easier for householders to know how to commission improvements. The first of these, on Vine Street, opened for bookings in September 2025.

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Priority action: Increase biodiversity and plant an additional 4,000 trees across the city.

Progress by September 2025:

  • York Green Streets has completed planting of over 2,700 trees in York's urban environment, including 2 new micro-woods at Burnholme and Rawcliffe, which means we've now reached a total of 5,300 trees and exceeded the Council Plan target of 4,000 trees by 2027. This work was fully funded by over £450,000 of external grants. Due to the exceptionally dry Spring, some trees failed. This was monitored and trees will be replaced this winter by the contractor at no cost to the council.
  • Funded by the Green Corridors project, the National Lottery Community Fund and sponsored by local businesses, the York Walls in Bloom project delivered spectacular floral displays with many different pollinating insects able to thrive.
  • The first phase of the York and North Yorkshire Local Investment in Natural Capital (LINC) pilot for York undertook a review of the initial pipeline of regional natural capital projects, and identified that there are already more than 40 at varying stages of investment readiness. These can be categorised across landscape recovery; regenerative/sustainable farming; peatland and woodland creation or restoration; and marine restoration and coastal resilience. Most of these projects have already received public grant funding to operationalise and these have reached varying levels of maturity.
  • York Community Woodland opened to the public in August 2024 providing access to new tracks and trails and almost 200,000 new trees and shrubs. It will continue to develop and mature over the coming decades.
  • Work is ongoing with North Yorkshire on Local Nature Recovery Strategy, mapping our region to prioritise and protect key species and habitats. A public consultation is underway and the resulting strategy is due to be published towards the end of 2025.

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Priority action: Work with city partners to adapt the city to withstand extreme weather events.

Progress by September 2025:

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The Council Plan 2023 to 2027 sets out our vision and our priorities to establish conditions that make York a healthier, fairer, more affordable, more sustainable and more accessible city where everyone feels valued.

The Council Plan; One City, for all