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08
Jan
Town council secures funding for Harrogate heating network study
Harrogate Town Council has won funding to press ahead with a study into a heating network in the town.
Last year, the Stray Ferret revealed that the town council was set to bid for £40,000 of central government funding to carry out a feasibility study into a heating system.
The move would see the town embark on a plan to deliver cheaper energy, with the more deprived areas of Jennyfields, Bilton and Fairfax identified as the first areas to benefit.
Now, the town council has secured £39,943 in funding from the government’s Great British Energy Community Fund to proceed with the project.
At a full council meeting last night (January 7), town councillors voted to accept the funding and appoint a consultancy firm to carry out its feasibility study.
Tomson Consulting Ltd, which is based in Sheffield, was appointed contractor for the study at a cost of £34,943.
Meanwhile, Zero Carbon Harrogate was designated as a partner for the project to help carry out community engagement and Harrogate and District Community Action were appointed to oversee project management.
Cllr Chris Aldred, mayor of Harrogate.
The move comes as Cllr Chris Aldred, Mayor of Harrogate, told the Stray Ferret previously that the scheme could be exciting for the town.
A district heating network connects users to a central heating source via insulated pipes underground.
The idea is to provide cheaper energy to a specific geographical area.
Cllr Aldred said:
People think there is a lot of money in Harrogate and there is. But there is also quite a lot of significant social poverty.
It’s those three areas which would benefit if this went ahead. That was the attraction to it for the town council.
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