Brighter future for village of Marton thanks to climate change fund that supports community-powered initiatives

The future looks brighter for the village of Marton.

Money has been awarded to the village from Warwickshire County Council’s Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund.

The £1m Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund is allocated by Warwickshire County Council and supports a wide range of small, community-powered initiatives.

Marton Parish Council has been awarded £2,605 in Green Shoots funding in order to replace the existing 70-watt bulbs in five streetlights on a main road through the village with energy-efficient LED alternatives.

The Parish Council have been working with street lighting technicians to find the best way to re-use the existing streetlight furniture whilst replacing the inefficient lamps with LEDs. A new method of replacing just the top of the pole has been devised and proven to be effective elsewhere. This reduces the amount of waste involved in upgrading the streetlights, whilst ensuring the most efficient LED bulbs are installed to reduce overall energy use.

The replacement of the bulbs in five lampposts will deliver savings of 94,000 kWh of electricity and 52,500 kg of CO2 per year compared the existing 70-watt bulbs.

Cllr Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Climate and Culture, said: “We were very happy to fund Marton Parish Council in their streetlighting project. They have been able to demonstrate considerable carbon and energy savings through the replacement of the bulbs in only five streetlights and to be able to deliver such savings with relatively low overheads of investment is very impressive.

“Streetlighting is one of the ways that we, as a Council, have been able to reduce our carbon footprint and impact on the environment. Through initiatives like replacing old bulbs with LED equivalents, we have managed to dramatically reduce the amount of energy we use and the associated carbon costs.”

Faye Chambers, Chair of Marton Parish Council. said “The Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund grant has been a huge help in supporting us to speed up our efforts to reduce the village’s environmental impact.”

More information about Marton Parish Council can be found online: http://martonvillage.com/?cat=2