Northumberland County Council's new climate change action plan will not have the authority watching over its residents like Orwell's "Big Brother", the council's leader has said.
Conservative councillor Glen Sanderson made the statement at Tuesday's meeting of the council's cabinet. Members were discussing a report setting out the scope of the new climate change plan, which will be in force from 2024 to 2026.
The plan will focus on greenhouse gas reduction and climate change "resilience through nature". However, environmental issues have made headlines in recent months - particularly in London, where concerns over the widening of the city's ultra-low emission zones were labelled as the reason behind Labour's failure to win the Uxbridge by-election in July.
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Speaking at the meeting, Coun Sanderson said: "I need to say one thing which is really important - this is not about dictating or commanding people to carry out environmentally friendly acts, and to be some type of Big Brother watching over residents.
"It is absolutely the opposite. It is about encouraging people to think about what they can do even in a small way to help us reach this net zero figure and help us protect the planet, which is important for all of us, our children, and our children's children."
The council's current climate action plan expires at the end of the year. The new plan is expected to come before cabinet in January to be ratified.
A report presented to members explained that the council is on track to achieve its target of a 50% reduction in its own carbon emissions by 2025, when compared against 2010 levels. The new plan will set out further decarbonisation beyond this target, with ambitious aims for the county to be net zero by 2030.
Deputy leader Coun Richard Wearmouth commented: "This is a really ambitious document. The council has a really ambitious programme about tackling climate change.
"It is a very welcome paper and it shows Northumberland is taking this really seriously."
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