DORSET’S climate action plan, which will go out for consultation in the coming weeks, has failed to set clear targets according to campaigners.

Extinction Rebellion, which persuaded the council to adopt the plan, claim some of the detail in the current draft proposals is not quantifiable and less likely to be achieved as a result.

A similar criticism has been made by two Dorset councillors who have also called for timely targets to be set for some proposed actions.

Julie-Ann Booker, on behalf of Extinction Rebellion Dorset, says the group would like to see a detailed delivery plan for each of the ten themes.

“It’s likely there will be a two year gap between Dorset declaring an emergency, and the production of its strategy and delivery plan. It’s important the public consultation is meaningful, transparent, accessible and productive…This cannot happen without clear metrics and measures being included in the documentation,” she said in a statement.

Green Party Cllr Kelvin Clayton told a Cabinet meeting that while the plan contained many great ideas he said it was important that they came with clear targets and timescales.

Lib Dem Cllr Maria Roe echoed the point: “Without more specific time-related targets a lot of the actions won’t happen…it seems there are a lot of actions around buildings which won’t even start until 2023.”

She said that a lot of the document contained ‘soft words’ like ‘lobby’, ’campaign, ’support,’ which she said were unlikely to produce positive actions: “I just don’t see them going anywhere” she said.

Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, Cllr Ray Bryan, said he also agreed with positive targets and timescales but said the document was constantly being revised and would reflect timescales in the final version.

But he warned that many targets could be affected by the council’s financial position and other demands within the authority.

Cllr Bryan said the Government would also have a major impact on how the plan might work and had been lobbied to make changes to planning rules which would encourage more ‘green’ homes in the future. He said without national legislation local planners were powerless to make developers produce more environment-friendly buildings, undermining parts of the plan from the outset.