Community-led Energy Event: Speakers and Panel Discussions

Empowering A More Sustainable Stratford

Exploring Community-Led Renewable Energy Projects and the Transition to Net Zero in a Rural District

This is a fantastic opportunity for councils and community organisations to meet with industry experts and key stakeholders as we explore the potential of community-led renewable energy production and the need for mass retrofit and corresponding green skills to reach net zero in rural areas.

“Empowering local communities and authorities to take an active role in the energy transition is essential” Citizens Advice

Programme:

9.30am – Doors open for registration

10.00am Emma Fletcher, Swaffham Prior District Heat Network. Emma is also Octopus Energy Low Carbon Homes Director

An estimated 1.1m homes in England are not connected to the gas network, and rely heavily on high-carbon fossil fuels such as oil, liquefied petroleum gas or electric heating. One such oil-dependent community is Swaffham Prior, a small, rural village north-east of Cambridge on the edge of the Fens. Nearly half the 300 homes in this 1,980ha parish are more than 100 years old. Swaffham Prior is your typical, rural, English village – boasting more than 40 listed properties, including two churches and two windmills – as well as a conservation area, pub, village hall and primary school. Of the 200 homes in the core of the village, housing associations own and let around 50. A heat network – also called district heating – is a distribution system of insulated pipes that takes heat, usually in the form of hot water, from a central source(s) or energy centre and supplies it to a group of buildings, which then extract the heat from the hot water on a building-by-building basis through a heat exchanger or heat interface unit (HIU) to warm their own internal water supply. FULL STORY

11.00am Ken Flood, Claverdon Parish Council – About CHARGE CIC and a Community Solar Farm

In 2019, Claverdon’s Neighbourhood Plan made clear the need for Claverdon to support renewable energy and mitigate the impact of climate change by becoming a carbon neutral parish, with solar energy identified as the likely route and where development proposals relating to the production of renewable energy will be supported where there are no significant adverse landscape or other visual impact. To deliver this vision, the Parish Council has now set up Claverdon Harnessing Alternative Renewable Green Energy (CHARGE) a Community Interest Company (CIC) as the vehicle to provide advice and funding and help the community utilise renewable energy and lower bills. It seeks to help in three specific ways; a) Look for beneficial renewable energy generation opportunities, b) Support our community assets e.g. Church, School etc. transition to greener, more efficient energy solutions and c) Support parishioners to retrofit or build-in suitable renewable energy solutions. FULL STORY

12noon – 1.15pm Lunch and Networking

Act-on Energy
Allen Energy Consultants
Heart of England Community Energy
Let’s Go Zero
Low Carbon Warwickshire Network
Midlands Net Zero Hub
Net Zero Stratford
Stolwood Architects
The Great Collaboration
Warwickshire County Council
Warwickshire Rural Community Council

1.30pm Panel Discussion: Growing Green Skills in a rural District

One of the strands is the RMI sector as recent research by TrustMark shows: Skilled to Build: Empowering the UK’s Repair, Maintenance & Improvement (RMI) sector for a better future.

Andrew Parkin, Director at Elmhurst Energy and Chair of the Property Energy Professionals Association, summarised, “We have a huge skills shortage across the construction sector and in particular in the trades that support both new build and retrofit; we need a huge programme to support the growth of the sector which can play a huge part of in sustainable growth for the UK economy. Paramount to this is certainty.”

Host: Sarah Mills, Climate Action Advisor, Let’s Go Zero

Panellists: Alli Adamson, Stratford upon Avon High School and Class of Your Own , Clare Holdsworth, Professor of Social Geography and Director Sustainable Rural Futures Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme SURF – Keele University, Lisa Tricket, Places in Common

2.15pm Panel Discussion: How can we accelerate decarbonisation of existing housing stock and community buildings in our rural District?

As part of Net Zero 2050, nationally developed schemes such as PAS2035 provide a platform to tackle key challenges such as reducing emissions & reducing fuel poverty in the built environment. Multiple funding schemes have utilised this standard to drive government investment into society with the intent to improving the fabric of existing dwellings and the take up of low and zero-carbon technology. Bringing focus groups together is key in the education and successful deployment of projects in meeting these challenges.

With a significant proportion of households being off the mains gas network, saving on heating bills is a particular concern for people living and working in rural Warwickshire. Domestic heating is usually more expensive in rural areas as housing tends to be older and less energy-efficient and so fuel poverty is generally higher. (WRCC)

Host: Chris Allen, Allen Energy Consultants

Panellists: Nick Bancroft, Director of Business Development and Communications, Act-on Energy; Simon Flint, Retrofit Supports Team Leader & Trainer, Elmhurst Energy; Eleanor Pitcher, Head of Energy Innovation, Equans; Nick Cadd, Communities and Social Inclusion Manager, Stratford-on-Avon District Council; Chris Cowcher, CEO, Warwickshire Rural Community Council (WRCC)

Further information: Rural Services Network update on Fuel Poverty in Rural Areas

3.00pm Panel Discussion: From here to there – what next for a more sustainable Stratford?

Theme: Cross-sector collaboration is needed to achieve a thriving, resilient, and inclusive British Countryside Plunkett Foundation, Anthropy 2023

Host: Eric Appleton, Heart of England Community Energy/Energy Systems Catapult

Panellists: Ian Bowater, CHARGE; Julie Crawshaw, Crawshaw Heritage & Community Projects; Tom Elliott, Energy Systems Catapult; Sarah Jeffrey, Head of Strategic Customer Engagement (Connections), National Grid; Sarah Stear, Head of Climate Change, Warwickshire County Council

3.45pm Closing Remarks

4.00pm End of Programme

This collaborative event is hosted by the Crowne Plaza Stratford upon Avon, and designed by Act-on Energy, Allen Energy Consultants, and Net Zero Stratford, supported by Warwickshire Association of Local Councils.

NB: Times and speakers will flex according to a developing offer. Panellists are representing own thoughts as to the future of net zero in rural communities.

Models to explore:

Low Carbon Hub – Oxford

The Low Carbon Hub is a social enterprise whose purpose is to mobilize the population of Oxford City and Oxfordshire County to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. It does this by working with community groups across the county to develop renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Their CEO is responsible for strategy development, financing and fundraising for the Low Carbon Hub. This involves working with 60 low carbon communities across Oxfordshire to develop renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

Low Carbon Technology Centre – Herefordshire

Herefordshire, Ludlow & North Shropshire College is using the Marches Energy Fund to convert two existing farm buildings into a training centre for low carbon and renewable technologies installation at the College’s Holme Lacy Campus. As an MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) approved centre, training will be provided to the construction industry, developing the skills required to install low-carbon technologies, including solar, ground-source and air-source heat pumps in both new build and retrofit settings. Find out more