Image demonstrating Council open floor to climate concerns

Council open floor to climate concerns

Northumberland County Council has delivered another successful resident-focused event on climate change. 

Climate change and planning officers were joined by guest speakers from E.ON to promote the positive impacts renewable energy and heat can have for everyone in Northumberland. 

The Council are currently funding a variety of projects focused on upgrading council estate in a bid to halve the Council’s emissions by 2025. Works to install solar panels at five Council sites is now complete, with scope for installations on an additional ten buildings planned for 2021/22 financial year. 

But the Council aren’t just focused on their own estate. Households across Northumberland will need to reduce their carbon emissions by 359 kilotons in order to meet the carbon neutral goal for the county by 2030. 

Cllr Glen Sanderson, Council Leader and chair of the climate change event, said: “This event is a perfect example of the work we are doing to engage with our residents and businesses to encourage as many people as possible to take climate change seriously, and help us reach our target by 2030.” 

The Council were recently awarded a £3.4m Government grant to tackle the climate emergency and reduce fuel poverty through the installation of renewable energy and heat technologies. Works will be carried out by E.ON to 200 private and 140 council owned properties, starting as early as April. Officers from E.ON were on hand at the most recent climate change event to discuss the scheme with residents and answer any questions. 

Eligible residents will need to own their own property, have a household income of less than £30,000, and have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of ‘D’ or below. Those properties that do not hold an EPC rating can contact E.ON for a free review. Residents do not need to be an E.ON customer to benefit from the scheme. 

Cllr Sanderson added: “We want to see Northumberland become the first carbon neutral county in the UK, and our 2021-23 Climate Change Action Plan lays out exactly how we plan to do this, with renewable energy and heating being just two of our key priorities. 

“We want to know what’s most important to our residents and businesses, and we encourage everyone to get in touch with our programme team to help us decide which of the priority action areas we should discuss at our next event.” 

Residents and businesses can watch the most recent climate change events online: www.northumberland.gov.uk/climatechange and can contact the climate change programme team at the Council via email: climate@northumberland.gov.uk 

Those who are interested in renewable technology installation to their homes under the newly funded scheme should contact E.ON online by visiting www.eonenergy.com/home-heating/green-homes-grant or by emailing GreenHomesGrant@eonenergy.com with their contact details, and a member of E.ON’s customer services team will be in touch. Alternatively, residents can call the E.ON Green Homes Grant team on 0333 202 4820. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm.  
 
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