DECC issues £400,000 grant offer

We are delighted to report that the Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral Project has weathered recent government spending reviews to be awarded a £400,000 grant that will finance a range of zero-carbon energy generation technologies for the village. The funds will be managed via the Parish Council.

The grant, awarded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change under its Low Carbon Communities Challenge project, will be used to install a sustainable combined heat and power biodiesel boiler to supply heat and electricity to Ashton Hayes Primary School and feed the surplus into the community microgrid. The grant also covers the installation of photovoltaics on the roof of the primary school and a ground heat store to accumulate excess heat for use in the winter. Wind power generation is not being funded by the DECC grant. The project is due for completion in this financial year.

The scheme is innovative and we are being seen by DECC as a leading community in terms of showcasing this technology and for our community spirit. The project is also supported by the University of Chester, EA Technology and Scottish Power Engineering Networks.

The Ashton Hayes scheme has also received funding to become the first village to set up an electric car sharing club, allowing villagers to hire 'green' vehicles, by the hour, for everyday journeys like local shopping. The cars will be charged using renewable energy and profits from the scheme will be ploughed back into the community.

Negotiations for the DECC funding was supported by top-city lawyers supplied for free by Carbon Leapfrog, a unique business-led not-for-profit organisation that channels pro bono services from top businesses into activities that deliver carbon reductions. 

We'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who put in so much time and effort to help us secure this funding. In particular we are keen to recognise the sterling efforts made by Professor Roy Alexander of the University of Chester (resident), Mary Gillie of EA Technology and Lynn & Richard May of M&M Communications (residents) and Jeremy Robinson of law firm Bird & Bird. Thanks should also go to Alex Masri and Harriet Festing at DECC for their help and guidance and, last but not least, Chris Priddey, the Head of the Primary School for his patience and support.