Work planned to cut carbon emissions at six council buildings in Northumberland

Councillors have approved a grant award of more than £3m to install ground source heat pumps at council buildings across Northumberland

The work will help to tackle the climate emergency and make Northumberland a cleaner and greener county for everyone.

The investment from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has been granted through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund and will help the council reach its goal to cut its own carbon emissions in half by 2025.

The works will be carried out at six sites including Willowburn Leisure Centre, Belford Fire Station, Swarland Primary School, Stannington First School, Stamfordham Primary School and Whittingham Primary School.

Cllr Glen Sanderson, leader of Northumberland County Council, said: “This funding will enable a reduction of 333 tonnes of carbon emissions per year from the point of installation. That’s the equivalent of planting almost 4,000 trees each year!

“As we have promised in our recent Climate Change Action Plan 2021-23, we are committed to leading the way in reducing emissions from our own estate by installing renewable heat and power solutions in our buildings, as well as assessing the carbon impact of all key policy decisions we make.

"Approval of these plans will help us in working towards our goal to halve the council’s carbon emissions by 2025.”

Installation of the six ground source heat pumps must be completed by end of September 2021 to ensure 100% of funding is granted by BEIS.

To find out more, visit: www.northumberland.gov.uk/climatechange

The dramatic events of the pandemic are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on your support through buying our newspaper. If you can, please pick up a copy of the Northumberland Gazette when you are at the shops. Thank you.