Councillors ‘baffled’ by town hall plan to spend £1.8m on 22 diesel minibuses

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A council has stuck by its plans to spend £1.8million on diesel minibuses, despite councillors claiming they were “baffled” by the decision.

Greenwich council given wishes to be “carbon neutral” in seven years’ time but has agreed to spend the money on 22 new diesel minibuses to replace its current fleet, which council officers described as “beyond their economic working life” in documents.

Labour councillors Maisie Richards Cottell and Nick Williams called in the meeting to discuss the purchase after it was decided last month.

The councillors said in documents that the move was “contradictory” to the council’s pledge to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030 and the vehicles would hold “negligible” resale or auction value by that time.

Cllr Richards Cottell said at the meeting: “We were sort of taken aback and baffled by this decision and we thought it was out of sync with this council’s own climate emergency and commitment to being carbon neutral by 2030.”

The council had previously announced its plans to reach net zero carbon emissions in the borough by 2030 in February 2021.

But council officers said in their report that plans for vehicle replacements up to 2024 had been agreed beforehand in July 2020.

Council documents said the new vehicles will use a HVO/biodiesel mixture for fuel, which are derived from plants and raw materials.

Labour Councillor Rachel Taggart-Ryan said at the meeting that she was worried about the process of using biofuel, and felt the environmental impact was comparable to fossil fuels.

The councillor said: “The actual carbon impact of biofuel is much higher and, to be honest, I think in about 20 to 30 years we are going to realise what a big con it is, so it’s not a question so much as a statement but I think this is a bit of greenwash to be honest.”

Council documents said the cost of buying electric vehicles instead of diesel vans would be “significantly more expensive”, with the cost estimated at being over £3.4million in total.

Cllr Taggart-Ryan also asked council officers why the pace at which the council was progressing towards its carbon neutral target appeared to be so slow.

She said: “Compared to other organisations which are moving towards electrification of their fleet, I’m thinking particularly of TfL replacing diesel buses with electric buses on a massive scale, it seems quite extraordinary to me that we are progressing so slowly with this.”

In response, Labour Councillor Averil Lekau said the funding available for organisations such as TfL was different to those for local authorities.

Pictured top: The new 17-seat minibuses from Treka Bus Ltd that Greenwich council plans to replace its current fleet with (Picture: Greenwich council)