Metro Mayor Dan Norris has reacted with delight after the £50 million Green Recovery Fund that he pledged in his manifesto was voted through unanimously in a meeting of the West of England Combined Authority in Keynsham today (Friday 3 December).

An amendment by the unitary leaders seeking to link the Green Recovery Fund to a series of unrelated investment decisions was withdrawn after the Metro Mayor accused the leaders of a "form of blackmail". A new "no strings attached" amendment was accepted.

The £50 million fund is vital to help the region meet its ambitious 2030 net zero target, not least by improving some of the 250,000 West of England homes that need boilers replacing and better insulation.

Now the fund is agreed the key environmental projects including a housing retrofit programme, installing electric vehicle charging points and biodiversity initiatives to help bees and other pollinators will get the green light. The fund will also enable projects like the Bath Riverline, championed by Cllr Kevin Guy, to proceed apace.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: "I am delighted. This is a massive victory for the people of the West of England. We can now get on with retrofitting which is vital to tackle the climate emergency. And we've done it with a no-strings attached fund. We now have deeds, rather than words, and that is what the people from across the West of England deserve. This is a good day but there is much more work still to do."