Mid Devon District Council has secured a grant of £2.8 million after a successful funding bid.

Following on from last year’s successful bid for more than £300k the Council is now in receipt of an additional multi-million funding package as part of the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

As part of its decarbonisation drive, the Council has secured funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as part of its Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, delivered by Salix.

The scheme aims to put the public sector at the forefront of decarbonising buildings in the UK.

The initial funding was used to replace the lighting at the Council’s three leisure centres with modern, energy efficient LED lighting.

Now this additional money will be used to transfer power sources at Lords Meadow Leisure Centre, Crediton and Exe Valley Leisure in Tiverton, away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Air source and ground source heating pump technologies will be used as well as the installation of new LED lighting for the outdoor all-weather pitches, and additional solar panels.

Andy Busby, Corporate Manager for Property, Leisure & Climate Change said:

“The Council has an ambitious programme of work to reduce our carbon emissions and I am confident this new project will benefit our leisure users as well as the local environment and our wider communities. Our bid was strong and this success shows we will work hard to explore all avenues available to us to help reach our climate ambitions.”

Client Support Office from Salix Robert de Grouchy said:

“After the success of their previous PSDS funding, it’s great to see the Council further targeting the installation of low carbon heating, and supporting energy efficiency measures, across both leisure centres.

“We have been impressed by the Council’s approach to these projects, and look forward to working with Mid Devon District Council and building on previous successes to enable their ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.

“The end result should make for a better experience for the user and make a considerable difference for the community and environment, with annual Carbon Savings of over 450 tonnes initially expected.

“We look forward to joining Mid Devon on this decarbonisation journey.”

Back in 2019 the Council joined other local authorities in the county and became part of the Devon Climate Emergency Response Group, following Devon County Council’s declaration of a climate emergency. Members then agreed to the Devon-wide target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, but will aim for Mid Devon District Council to achieve net zero by the more ambitious date of 2030.

In October 2020 the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme which will be delivered by Salix. The scheme is being delivered in phases and this new funding is part of the £2.5billion total government spending on the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme between 2020 and 2025, with hospitals, schools, libraries, museums and leisure centres among hundreds of public buildings across England that will cut fossil fuel use, potentially save on energy bills and produce low carbon heating and energy efficienct upgrades.