More than £800,000 to help cut carbon emissions

More than £800,000 is being spent by Malvern Hills District Council upgrading the energy efficiency of buildings as part of efforts to combat climate change.

A grant of £167,000 has been secured from the Government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme which will help improve the energy efficiency of Malvern Theatres.

The money will be used to upgrade the building's energy management system improve insultation and install secondary glazing.

Some £550,000 has also been pledged to the council from phase 2 the Local Delivery Scheme, which is part of the Government's Green Homes Grant. Details of exactly how the money will be spent are still being developed. But it will target fuel poor households by upgrading the energy efficiency of their property through measures such as installing solar panels and draught proofing.

The council has already spent £100,000, received from phase 1 of the Local Delivery Scheme, on installing external wall insulation on 10 properties which cannot benefit from cavity wall insulation.

The measures will help the council meet the commitments in its Destination Zero plan, which aims to make the authority carbon neutral by 2030. The council will also lead the district to be carbon neutral as quickly as possible, but by 2050 at the latest, with at least a 50% reduction by 2030.

Other actions the council has taken in the last 12 months as part of the plan include:

• Buying more than 45 acres of land at Hallow to develop into a natural space for the enjoyment of residents which will also support biodiversity and capture carbon.
• Several energy efficiency improvements installed as part of the £2million refurbishment of Malvern Splash.
• Installing charging points in Priory Road South Car Park in Malvern with others to follow in Upton and Tenbury.
• Upgrading car park lighting with more energy efficient LED bulbs.
• Installation of new on-the-go recycling bins in Priory Park in Malvern with a view to rolling them out to other places.
• Wildflower planting in Priory Park to improve biodiversity, with 46 other sites put forward by town and parish councils.
• Approving a new Visitor Economy Action Plan with an ambition to make The Malverns a green tourism destination to improve the sustainability of our visitor economy.

Cllr Sarah Rouse, Leader of Malvern Hills District Council and Portfolio Holder for Environment, said: "I'm delighted we have been able to secure this funding which will not only help us meet our ambitions to cut carbon emissions but will save people money as well.

"Despite the Covid-19 pandemic understandably tying up a significant amount of our time and resource over the last 12 months, we have still managed to make progress on our Destination Zero plan. We will now look to push on, not only to make sure that the recovery from Covid-19 is truly a green one, but we are fully supporting our residents and businesses to play their part in tackling climate change."