Sustainable Brailes: May News
A couple of us from Sustainable Brailes had an interesting meeting with Warwickshire County Council last month. We have contacts there from attending an event in Stratford last year, and we have shared the outputs of the Rural Energy and Community Heat project with them. We took part in that last year, and it was funded by the energy regulator and involved among others National Grid. As well as a good set of information about the state of the energy network around here and forecasts for how this may change in years and decades ahead, the project has shown that we can put a good case together – we were one of only 7 communities nationwide to be selected to participate.
So, we’re now thinking about what to do next. There are two government schemes that we’re looking at for opportunities – these are called the Local Power Plan and the Warm Homes Scheme. This could involve making it easier to find and fund things like insulation and solar panels, to bigger ideas such as identifying clusters of housing that might be feasible for a small heat network, which is a shared heating source to try to find a different approach to some of the high initial costs of things like heat pumps. If anyone would like to get involved, please contact us – plans can only develop by and for the community.
You may have seen energy in the press recently – a lot. As a village that is heavily dependent on oil for heating, we are more vulnerable than some of our neighbours to global events and instability. We’re aware that Brailes Oil Club has circulated some contacts at the council if you are struggling. There’s also been announcements from the government about plug-in solar panels, which don’t involve a complex electrical installation as traditional panels and can be smaller and are typically more modular. Whilst they haven’t been allowed in the UK before (due to wiring regulations), they’re very popular on the continent – in Germany for example they are called Balkonkraftwerk which translates as balcony power station! There are also upcoming changes to heat pump installations – you’ll no longer need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) to qualify for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant.
Lastly, we thought it was worth seeing if everyone was aware that Lower Carbon Hook Norton are now operating as an energy supplier, and Brailes is in their area. We are neither endorsing nor recommending them, but they have a simple tariff and are worth checking out. https://www.hn-lc.org.uk/energy-local-north-oxfordshire
What we will say is that it’s never been more important to shop around for your energy supplier.
Repair Café:
Our next Repair Cafe is on Saturday 6th June, 10-12 Pavilion.
Jo, Louise and Sue
The group is open to everyone in the parish. If you would like to join, or find out more please email su*****************@***il.com