A CLIMATE change fund could be set up by Dorchester Town Council to offset its activities.

An initial reserve of £125,000 is being suggested to be spent on works which make the council’s buildings and its equipment more environmentally friendly.

The council already has two electric vehicles for its parks and gardens and has also switched to electric gardening equipment where it can, as well as fitting solar panels to its St George’s Road depot.

Other proposals include switching the heating for the Corn Exchange complex from traditional boilers to biomass, if an investigation shows this to be practicable. The council may also abandon its North Square offices and move into the Corn Exchange.

Also being investigated is further solar panels at council-owned sites or the part-purchase of a ‘solar farm’ to mitigate the impact of continued use of operations that generate carbon dioxide.

A report the councillors says some of the council’s climate change fund could also be used to invest in schemes with partner organisations or to support initiatives led by other agencies or community organisations that would lead to reductions in the amount of CO2 generated by the town’s residents and businesses.

The council believes it current own operations directly produce around 150 tonnes of CO2 each year – a figure it aims to reduce by around 80 per cent over the next ten years.