Warwick District Council: Scepticism over plans to "encourage" homeowners to decarbonise

Councillor Lowell Williams (Green, Kenilworth Park Hill), portfolio holder for climate change at Warwick District Council, vowed that work to turn a new low cost low carbon energy strategy into action would kick in “at pace” at last week’s meeting of council.

He announced that an air source heat pump, solar panels, LED lighting and a smart energy management system would be installed at the Temperate House, Leamington, while new rooftop solar panels would go on Newbold Comyn Leisure Centre, Leamington, and other corporate buildings.

Wider plans to start work on social housing, new social housing projects and nudge private householders to do similar are to follow, with the latter set to be tied in with the West Midlands Investment Zone (WMIZ).

“I am sure we would all recognise that we haven’t accelerated the progress we would have wanted to see on decarbonising our own buildings,” he said.

“We haven’t made the use we could have of the public sector decarbonisation funds and as a result, the decarbonisation of our corporate buildings has been somewhat limited

“There is a lot of work to do on our social housing and the progress on bringing forward a really innovative low-cost, low-carbon scheme for Leyes Lane and Rouncil Lane is a little bit slower than we would have liked.

“The agreement of the strategy allows us now to start working at pace."

He estimated an annual running cost saving of nearly £250,000 with 178 tonnes of carbon cut from the council's emissions per year.

“I will also shortly bring to this council proposals to begin the decarbonisation of our social housing stock, which is a very big challenge, a time-bound programme for Leyes Lane and Rouncil Lane and an ambitious plan to help householders and businesses decarbonise their own assets," added Cllr Williams.

He also committed to publicly available monitoring of progress.

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Alan Boad (Leamington Lillington) questioned how private households would be convinced to take the plunge.

Cllr Williams replied: “It is a very important question for us all to consider.

“We will be bringing a plan to this council for a scheme to encourage both businesses and homeowners to be able to invest in and retrofit their own properties.

“We are hoping to link that scheme to the West Midlands Investment Zone. Work is happening on that scheme at the moment, taking into consideration best practice from elsewhere in the country, but it will be a major piece of our work.

"You are absolutely right, we do need to encourage individuals and businesses, it can’t all be delivered by us as a council.”

Having heard the answer, Cllr Boad noted: “With the cost of living, it might be a challenge to get people to cough up.”

In 2019, Warwick District Council declared a climate emergency.

The council is working to become a carbon neutral organisation by 2025 and for the district to be as close to carbon neutral as possible by 2030.