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Whitehill Bordon short-listed for £500,000 grant

Wednesday 27th of January 2010

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Whitehill Bordon has been short-listed for a £500,000 grant to retrofit existing privately owned homes - so they will be more energy efficient as well as saving households money on fuel bills.

East Hampshire District Council applied to the Department of Energy and Climate Change at the end of last year to become one of the communities in the Low Carbon Communities Challenge.

The towns which are selected to be part of the scheme will qualify for funding and the council plans to use this to create interest free loans of up to £10,000 to retrofit homes. 

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A key feature of these loans is that repayments plus the household fuel bills must be lower than   the homeowner would originally have spent on fuel bills.

The repayment period can therefore be up to 25   years.

It is envisaged that people on income or disability related benefits would not necessarily incur monthly repayments and the loan would be repaid on sale or transfer of the property. This will increase disposable household income.

Over the coming years all existing Whitehill Bordon households  can benefit from a whole house retrofit.

At current energy prices, households which have been retrofitted could save up to £645 a year on fuel bills and nearly 3.5 tonnes of carbon per household every year.

Some of the energy-saving measures could include solar hot water, boiler upgrades, insulating solid walls, double glazing and heat pumps.

On Monday (January 25) assessor Matt Dickinson from the Building Research Establishment visited the town and he is set to decide by next week if the council has been successful in its funding bid.

Cllr Andrew Joy, Portfolio Holder for Whitehill Bordon, said: "Whitehill Bordon needs to be a model for new development but is must also be a shining example of how existing places and residents can reduce their carbon output.

"Representatives from community organisations joined forces to show the assessor around the town and he seemed very positive about our bid.

"It is important that existing, every bit as much as new, residents have efficient heating systems because this will save money and ultimately help the whole town tackle climate change."

Cllr Dr Bill Wain, Mayor of the town, said: "It was fantastic to see so many community groups pulling together to show that we are totally committed to reducing the carbon footprint of the town.

"We visited many facilities including the Phoenix Theatre, the Forest Community Centre and Bordon   Junior   School .

"I very much hope we become part of this challenge because it will help us integrate the Eco-town with the existing community."