Witney News - Great Green Deal for West Oxfordshire

Great Green Deal for West Oxfordshire

West Oxfordshire District Council, on behalf of a consortium of 18 authorities, has successfully bid for a £600,000 government Green Deal funding grant.

Green Deal provides loans, at no upfront costs, that will assist householders and businesses interested in becoming more energy efficient, saving money on fuel bills and staying warmer.

Improvements could include insulation, draught proofing, double glazing, a new boiler/heating system and renewable energy technologies such as solar panels.

The consortium is supported by the National Trust, the Low Carbon Hub, National Energy Foundation, Bucks Business First, Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, Sustainable Energy Academy and United Sustainable Energy Agency.

The local authority consortium will form a not-for-profit company to administer Green Deal, due to launch mid-2013.

Cllr David Harvey, Cabinet Member for Environment said, “We are delighted to be working with so many other forward-thinking authorities and organisations and to have led a successful bid for funding.

“Green Deal is an exciting opportunity with the potential to make a big difference to reducing both carbon emissions and energy bills, as well upgrading housing and property energy efficiency standards throughout our district. We also foresee this will provide additional employment in our area.

“The beauty of the scheme is that it will not be an extra burden on existing budgets for the consumer. Payback is through financial savings made from energy efficiency property improvements and these savings will be deducted from electricity bills. I believe the scheme is excellent news for us all in the current economic climate.”

To access funding, Green Deal energy advisors will assess a property to see what improvements can be made and how much can be saved on energy bills. Once the work has been done, the loan is paid off in instalments through energy bills.

Leading up to the launch, the consortium will be engaging with the community and businesses to raise awareness of the programme, as well as liaising with Green Deal installers.

More information about Green Deal is available on the Department of Energy and Climate Change website and on www.westoxon.gov.uk/greendeal.