News

Sunday 28th January 2024

White Colne Parish Council has heard that their application for £42,000 from the government Rural Prosperity Grant has been approved by BDC. We have to wait for the second round of  government funds to become available, which we hope will be early in the next financial year. The funds will pay for 33 panels to be installed on the village hall roof, with battery storage and a large energy display board in the hall, so that everyone will be able to see how much energy is being generated, stored and exported. As the application is to decarbonise the hall, we shall also be removing the old gas boiler and cooker and installing an air source heat pump and a commercial electric stove. EV chargers will also be installed in the car park. 

This is an exciting development for the village but also for the Colne Valley Community Energy Project. We plan to hold open events to invite residents and businesses to view the installation, meet with installers and gain a better understanding of how everything works. 

Saturday 27th January 2024

A message from Jill Bruce 

Happy New Year!

The Colne Valley Community Renewable Project continues to make good progress, with lots of invitations from other interested parishes for Jane and I to talk them through it. Update below from Darran at Simcott from before Christmas on how many enquiries and installation requests he’s had locally. 

We now have a thermal imaging camera to help us check on where we could improve our home insulation, if you would like to borrow it please let me know. We had considered holding a second meeting on how to use it this coming Monday evening, but most people are using it without a problem, and we have some experienced volunteers happy to help any less technologically minded residents, so will not go ahead with that meeting.

There is another public meeting with Tom Day from Essex County Council and Jon Cape from Powercircle this coming Tuesday, 7pm, Great Tey Village Hall, which you are most welcome to attend if you have more questions. The Pay as you Go option is getting nearer, we expect to have draft contracts soon, and are expecting a weekly charge of £2-£3 plus your standing charge for you to use the power generated by solar panels installed on your roof at no upfront cost.  

If you are still interested but haven't yet made contact with Simcott, we recommend you contact darran@simcott.co.uk for your free desktop survey to find out what your potential savings could be, saying you are part of the Colne Valley Community Renewable Energy project to get your discount.

We hope to see you on Tuesday,

Best, Jill

From Darran "We have had circa 30 people contact us, who have confirmed they have been passed our details from your community action group.

Currently 3 have progressed to install and have been completed.

1 is booked in for installation in the new year.

15 have had site visits and are still considering if they wish to progress.

2 are awaiting site visits and 1 is still awaiting the design to be carried out.

That is a truly amazing result for such a limited area and you should be very proud of all your hard work to motivate so many people.

There are also circa 7 people who have also been throught the process and either decided to go with another supplier or that solar is not for them.

Many of the people we have spoken to recently are still really engaged and we hope for many more installs in the new year".

In The News - Halstead Gazette - 8th January 2024

HALSTEAD Town Council is going green this new year as it looks to get businesses involved in a community energy project.

The town council is joining with community groups and six villages in the Colne Valley to promote climate change action.

Throughout the year, the council says it will be promoting things residents can do to help move to a net-zero culture.

The Colne Valley Community Energy Project aims to bring solar panels with battery storage to domestic and small business rooftops.

Continued... Halstead Town Council joining Colne Valley Community Energy Project

Town Council Meeting - 18th September 2023

Public Question time contribution from Jill Bruce, Climate Ambassador for Federation of Essex WI’s, and Jane Taylor, Chair White Colne PC, both leading on the Colne Valley Community Energy Project

Minutes... Minutes of Halstead Town Council Meeting 18 September 2023