At it's meeting last Tuesday, Formby Parish Council agreed to make a bid for up to £500,000 capital funding available in a Government 'Climate Change Challenge'. The Challenge will involve 20 pilot groups from around England and involves a total of £10 million.
The accompanying letter from the Department of Energy and Climate Change setting out the Challenge writes:
The findings from the Big Energy Shift public dialogue suggest that households could benefit significantly from joined-up ‘packages’ of support, delivered locally in the community, to help them reduce home energy consumption and make deep cuts in their carbon emissions. Such packages could include, for example, smart meters, home energy audits, access to local demonstration homes, leadership from local schools, businesses and public buildings, and more hands-on support navigating advice and determining which energy efficiency measures and renewable technologies are right for them.
Formby Parish Council members agreed that Councillors Mike Coles and Sean Brady should proceed with the preparation of the bid documents. We have already started preliminary discussions with Area Committee members, Formby Pool representatives and others and I'm pleased to report enthusiastic support from everyone we've spoken to so far.
The bid has to be submitted at the end of December, in the meantime we are looking to form a 'Project Management Group'. Want to be involved? Use the email link on the right hand side or add your comments below.
