Ashfield Council awarded energy grant of more than £2m

The money, topped up by the council will pay for upgraded, cleaner and renewable heating systems and other environmentally friendly schemes at the council’s headquarters on Urban Road, Kirkby, and

Hucknall Leisure Centre.

PSDS, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Industrial Strategy and delivered by Salix Finance, provides grant funding to organisations for heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects.

The successful bid has moved the council closer to its target of net-zero for its emissions by 2030. The council is committed to minimising the creation of waste, pollution and carbon emissions through effective waste management and setting realistic targets.

Coun Jason Zadrozny, council leader, said: “Last summer, we set the council the ambitious target of becoming net-zero by 2030 at a minimum.

“This successful bid will bring us closer to that. I hope this sends a clear message to residents that we are committed to our ambitious climate change targets.”

The scheme is designed to help upgrade heating systems in public buildings and to ones often powered by cleaner, cheaper and renewable energy. This will help reduce fossil fuels as well as making Hucknall Leisure Centre and the council offices more comfortable and cheaper to heat, saving the council money.

Coun David Hennigan, council executive lead member for climate action strategy said, “Last summer, we updated our climate change strategy as this is the responsible thing to do.

“Bringing in external funding was central to this and I would like to congratulate our council officers and partners for an excellent, successful bid.

“We are tackling climate change by making the most of the resources we already have and being more efficient in the way we use these resources. This will mean cheaper bills and the work will be completed by the end of March 2024.”

Gerald HAbib, Salix Finance client support officer, said: “We are very excited to be on this decarbonisation journey with Ashfield Council.

“The council has ambitious targets to become net zero by 2030 and we hope this will be part of the measures to achieve this target. Congratulations to Ashfield on being successful in their bid.”