A VILLAGE hall was packed out as residents came together to help make smarter decisions on climate change.

Residents met at Hanley Swan Village Hall to discuss different ways to can make their village carbon neutral by 2025.

Villagers have joined other towns and district councils in committing to the move - but most have give themselves a longer timeframe until 2035 or 2050.

Sue Roberts, chairman of the council, introduced the meeting, saying: “It is nice to see so many people here on such a miserable evening (with regards the weather.)

“A couple of months ago the parish council resolved to work towards being a carbon neutral parish by 2025 and this is the first public meeting on that road.”

More than 50 people of all ages turned up for the meeting on November 28 to hear guests speak on various topics including greener energy methods for housing, tree planting and different options for reducing the carbon footprint of the village.

Steve Gogerty, from the Hanley Energy Action Team (HEAT) talked residents through the advantages of switching away from fossil fuel boilers and towards more environmentally-friendly options such as solar power.

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He said: “Tonight is all about energy replacement and what to do when our boilers come up for replacement.

“There is a separation between reducing electricity and reducing carbon.

“The UK is leading the way on reducing greenhouse gases and it is going to be lots of little things that add up.”

Also on the agenda were the advantages and disadvantages of the different “greener” methods of heating the home such as biomass boilers, as well as a discussion around transport and having a car club, which would see residents share cars to reduce traffic on the roads.

After the meeting, there was a panel discussion from the various speakers with questions from the audience.

Topics raised include planting trees and re-using plastic more efficiently.