Derbyshire council lands Government funding for £1.1m energy efficiency works

The council has secured £562,515 from the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and will allocate the remainder from its own budgets to pay for work at Matlock Town Hall and the Agricultural Business Centre (ABC) in Bakewell.

Joanna Hill, climate change officer for the authority, said: “The council was pleased to be successful in another application to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme following our project at Ashbourne Leisure Centre.

“The decarbonisation works are key to our journey to becoming net zero by 2030, as well as providing much needed investment in these two public buildings.”

Work at the ABC has already started and includes the installation of 355 solar photovoltaic panels on the roof to generate the facility’s own electricity supply, while old gas panel heaters will be replaced with new infrared electric units in the rings and concourse.

Council headquarters in Matlock will benefit from the removal of its gas boilers, to be replaced by three heat pumps. New, more energy efficient windows will also be fitted in part of the building and the offices have already had new LED lighting installed.

The shift to more efficient electric heating is expected to reduce running costs as well as greenhouse emissions – an estimated saving of 83 tonnes of carbon per year.

Leisure Energy, the contractor which previously carried out installations at the council’s leisure facilities will be a partner again for these equipment installations.

The company’s managing director Neil Bland said: “We are delighted to be working again with Derbyshire Dales District Council on the decarbonisation of their buildings.

“Resulting from these installations Matlock Town Hall and the Agricultural Business Centre will be significant reductions in their carbon footprint which will assist in council targets towards net zero.”

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is being delivered by Government-owned company Salix Finance on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Salix programme director Ian Rodger said: “The council has ambitious targets to reduce its carbon footprint and this funding to decarbonise these buildings should play a significant role in helping them reach this goal.”

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