Ashfield District Council awarded over £2m energy grant

Ashfield District Council is celebrating after receiving confirmation that its £2million bid through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has been successful. 

The money, topped up by Ashfield District Council will pay for upgraded, cleaner and renewable heating systems and other environmentally friendly schemes at Hucknall Leisure Centre and at the Council’s Offices in Kirkby. 

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) is funded by the Department for Energy Security and Industrial Strategy and delivered by Salix Finance. The scheme provides grant funding to organisations for heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects.

The successful bid has moved the Council closer to its target of becoming net-zero for the emissions it is responsible for by 2030. The Council is committed to minimising the creation of waste, pollution and carbon emissions through effective waste management and setting realistic targets.

The success of the bid has been welcomed by Councillor Jason Zadrozny, Leader of Ashfield District Council. He said:

“Last summer, we set Ashfield District Council the ambitious target of becoming net-zero by 2030 at a minimum. This successful bid will bring us a step closer to that.  We’re delighted that yet again, our Council has been successful in a bid for external funding to meet our ambitious climate change targets. I hope that this sends a clear message to residents that we committed to our ambitious climate change targets.”

The scheme is designed to help upgrade heating systems in public buildings and to ones often powered by cleaner, cheaper and renewable energy. This will help reduce fossil fuels as well as making Hucknall Leisure Centre and the Council Offices more comfortable and cheaper to heat – saving the Council money.

Councillor David Hennigan, Ashfield District Council’s Executive Lead Member for Climate Action Strategy said:

“Last summer, we updated our climate change strategy as this is the responsible thing to do. Bringing in external funding was central to this and I would like to congratulate our Council Officer team and partners for an excellent, successful bid. We are tackling climate change by making the most of the resources we already have and being more efficient in the way we use these resources.  This will mean cheaper bills and the work will be completed by the end of March 2024.”

Salix Finance Client Support Officer Gerald Habib said:

“We are very excited to be on this decarbonisation journey with Ashfield District Council.

The Council has ambitious targets to become net zero by 2030 and we hope that this will be part of the measures to achieve this target. Congratulations to Ashfield on being successful in their bid.”