Bristol's Colston Hall announces carbon neutral plan

A concert hall has announced plans to become carbon neutral.

Bosses at Colston Hall in Bristol want the venue to gain the status by 2030 and detailed plans will be unveiled by next autumn.

It plans to work with Sydney Opera House, which became carbon neutral last year, to achieve its goal.

Early proposals, as part of an ongoing £49m revamp, include the installation of more solar panels, LED lighting, and increased recycling.

Non-recyclable waste will be incinerated to produce energy, the use of single-use plastic will end and food waste will also be turned into energy.

Louise Mitchell, chief executive of Bristol Music Trust which runs the hall, said: "At this stage in our transformation we are in a prime position to put environmental and sustainability targets centre stage."

The trust will produce the detailed plans next year and has already appointed a sustainability adviser.

In 2017, Colston Hall announced it would ditch ties with the 17th Century slave trader Edward Colston, after whom it is named.

When it reopens after current refurbishment work is completed in 2021, it will be under a new name.

Sydney Opera House was certified carbon neutral last year after it carried out a number of measures, including using sea water to cool the building, rather than chiller units, replacing light bulbs with LEDs, controlling its waste and converting food waste into energy.

Earlier this week, Bristol City Council missed a third government deadline for providing details of a clean air zone for the city.

The authority said the delay would not affect "implementation or compliance dates" for reducing air pollution.