Initial Climate Change Impact Assessment (Form created August 2021)

The intention of this document is to help the council to gain an initial understanding of the impact of a project or decision on the environment. This document should be completed in consultation with the supporting guidance. Dependent on this initial assessment you may need to go on to complete a full Climate Change Impact Assessment. The final document will be published as part of the decision-making process.

If you have any additional queries, which are not covered by the guidance please email climatechange@northyorks.gov.uk

Title of proposal	Wintering Well
Brief description of proposal	The project aims to give people the knowledge and tools to alleviate symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Seasonal depression is estimated to effect 2 million people in the UK. Among recommended treatments by the NHS is light therapy. The project will provide light therapy lamps and wellbeing information. We will create 150 loanable kits based on the academically researched resources created by Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities, who are partners in this project. The kits will include a light therapy lamp, wellbeing information and practical tools to support wintering well. We will set up 15 Wintering Well hubs in our libraries. These will include a large light therapy lamp, comfortable seating and wellbeing information and signposting. These will become community hubs at a time of year when it can be hard to get out, and hard to find free places to gather and socialise. There will be four large events, one in each of the geographical areas of North Yorkshire. The events will bring together partners (both NYC and external) to provide information on wintering well. Topics covered will include mental wellbeing, energy bill reduction and the benefits of being active. There will also be a wellbeing element to each visit such as a wellbeing walk or a mindful creative activity. We will replicate elements of our Slipper Socials events.  NYC partners reported how valuable these events were as outreach in the community and engaging new audiences.
Directorate	Community Development
Service area	Libraries
Lead officer	Katy Lane-Ryan
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the impact assessment	Lee Taylor, Manager Service Development

The chart below contains the main environmental factors to consider in your initial assessment – choose the appropriate option from the drop-down list for each one.

Remember to think about the following;

· Travel

· Construction

· Data storage

· Use of buildings

· Change of land use

· Opportunities for recycling and reuse

Environmental factor to consider	For the council	For the county	Overall
Greenhouse gas emissions	No effect on emissions	Decreases emissions	No effect on emissions
Waste	No effect on waste	No effect on waste	No effect on waste
Water use	No effect on water usage	No effect on water usage	No effect on water usage
Pollution (air, land, water, noise, light)	No effect on pollution	No effect on pollution	No effect on pollution
Resilience to adverse weather/climate events (flooding, drought etc)	No effect on resilience	No effect on resilience	No effect on resilience
Ecological effects (biodiversity, loss of habitat etc)	No effect on ecology	No effect on ecology	No effect on ecology
Heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape

If any of these factors are likely to result in a negative or positive environmental impact then a full climate change impact assessment will be required. It is important that we capture information about both positive and negative impacts to aid the council in calculating its carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Decision (Please tick one option)	Full CCIA not relevant or proportionate:	Yes	Continue to full CCIA:	No
Reason for decision	This project does not have any impact on climate change
Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)	Jo Ireland
Date	13 May 2026