The Village Halls Energy Project (VHEP) aimed to reduce the carbon footprints of village and community halls across the district by reducing reliance on oil and gas as a fuel source, and decreasing electricity drawn from the national grid by 2025.  An application for £500,000 from Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) [Climate Emergency Bonus Fund] was submitted in June 2022 and approved by the Strategic CIL Allocations Panel in July 2022.

To support the Council’s aim to be carbon neutral by 2030, it was important that village and community halls across the district improved their energy costs and reduced their levels of emissions, particularly those fuelled by oil.  Also, as a result of inclement weather, these buildings might be needed as potential Rest Centres for the Council in the future.

Following a review, it was clarified that 40 halls were eligible for the VHEP, 37 of which had already confirmed their desire to participate in principle.  Efforts had been made to ensure that at least one hall in every Parish area of Rother was invited to participate however to date no eligible venues had been identified in Bodiam (no village hall) or Rye Foreign.  It was noted that the eligible venue identified in Ashburnham and Penhurst had declined the opportunity; it was understood that they were currently working on plans to construct a new village hall.

There were two phases to the VHEP, as follows:

Phase 1 – £42,000: to complete site assessments, prioritising measures for energy efficiency and decarbonisation in-line with the energy hierarchy “Lean, Clean and Green”.  The report identified the criteria for the awards to be determined which was approved by the Climate Change Steering Group on 26 June 2022.  A target date of March 2023 had been set to confirm and prioritise the best range of measures for installation within budget.

Phase 2 – £458,000: a procurement process to acquire suitable contractors for the works as detailed in Phase 1.  Installations would be completed systematically between June 2023 and May 2024 until the full budget was spent.

The report outlined the main outcomes, financial and environmental implications, as well as key risks for the project.  To measure the impact of the VHEP, baselining for all halls would be undertaken during Phase 1.  On completion, the Council should be able to measure the direct impact on energy usage and carbon output, identifying a ‘carbon saved’ figure for the scheme.

After discussion, Cabinet recommended that £500,000 be ring-fenced from the Strategic CIL Funding and included within the Council’s Capital Programme.  It was also agreed that delegated authority be granted to the Director – Place and Climate Change to accept the £500,000 from the Strategic CIL Funding to deliver the VHEP and to procure the contractor(s) required for both Phases 1 and 2 and enter into any other contracts as necessary for the completion of the works.  As a result of the current national energy crisis, it was considered important that all community venues were encouraged to investigate ways to reduce their carbon footprint by installing energy efficient products e.g. solar panels etc., which could feedback to the national grid.

Cabinet thanked the Director – Place and Climate Change and Project Officer (Environment) for their hard work in arranging this scheme which supported the Council’s aim to be Carbon Neutral by 2030.

RECOMMENDED: That the Village Halls Energy Project be included in the Council’s Capital Programme with a budget of £500,000 to be funded from ring-fenced Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy Funding;

AND

*RESOLVED: That:

1)     subject to Full Council approval, delegated authority be granted to the Director – Place and Climate Change to accept the £500,000 grant from the Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy, for the purposes of delivering this project; and

2)     delegated authority be granted to the Director – Place and Climate Change to procure the contractor(s) required for both the assessment and installation phases and enter into any other contracts as necessary for the completion of the project works.

*The RESOLVED parts of this Minute is subject to the call-in procedure under Rule 16 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules.

(When it first became apparent, Councillor J. Barnes declared a Personal Interest in this matter as his wife was Chairman of Etchingham Parish Council and in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct remained in the meeting during the consideration thereof).