Questions have been raised about the environmental impact of building the new indoor arena in Swansea, but the council said steps were taken to lessen it. Former Swansea councillor Ioan Richard asked the authority about the amount of concrete and steel used in its construction, both of which have a high carbon footprint.
His Freedom of Information request also asked about the grade of concrete used in the Swansea Arena, and how much low-carbon concrete the council demanded for its own building maintenance schemes. The authority said in response that an estimated 6,135 cubic metres of concrete of different strengths was used for the new arena, around half for piling. It said it no low-carbon concrete was used by the council for its own building maintenance schemes.
Mr Richard said he felt the council could have demanded that some low-carbon concrete was used for the arena when it granted planning permission for the scheme. In his view the council, which paying for most of the project, hadn't "practised what it preaches" given its climate pledges.
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In response to questions from the Local Democracy Reporting Service the council said Buckingham Group - the main contractor for the arena and adjacent coastal park and car park - did explore the use of low-carbon concrete, but the Covid pandemic meant these materials were not available. It added: "The arena is largely a steel frame, and concrete use was kept to the minimum possible."
The council also said solar panels on the arena's roof provide some the electricity needed to power it and that 64% of the supply chain materials for its construction came from companies in Wales - mostly south west Wales - helping to lower its overall carbon footprint.
The coastal park has trees and other greenery, and a "living wall" will take shape on the exterior of the Oystermouth Road side of it. Independent experts have awarded the development "very good" status, said the council, in recognition of sustainable features.
The Swansea Arena is the biggest leisure attraction in years in Swansea and has already welcomed major names in music and comedy. New buildings using concrete and steel inevitably have embedded emissions because of the energy-intensive way those materials are manufactured.
Welsh ministers want councils and other public sector bodies to be collectively "net zero" by 2030, meaning they keep cutting their carbon emissions and offset the ones they can't by this like developing renewable energy projects, planting trees and expanding peat bogs. Swansea Council has separately set itself a 2030 net zero target.
Councils have to report a range of emissions data every year, such as how much energy their buildings use and how many miles their vehicles travel. These sources of emissions fall under one of three "scopes", one of which is indirect emissions. Emissions arising from the construction of a building procured and paid for by a council would be categorised as an indirect, and it would attract a "carbon equivalent" value.
As well as scopes there are "tiers" of reporting - again, three of them - which reflect the accuracy of the emissions data. The Welsh Government wants the public sector to keep improving the accuracy of the data it reports.
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