In 2019 Chalford Parish Council declared a Climate and Environmental Emergency and pledged to do everything within its powers to make Chalford Parish Community carbon neutral by 2030 at the latest.
So, what have we done so far –
Initially we contracted an expert to carry out an energy survey of the Parish Centre. This realised an energy rating of C. The expert provided us with recommendations to improve this rating and we took his advice.
- We changed all our lights to LED at the Parish Centre and at our workshop at Frithwood Cemetery.
- Solar PV panels were fitted to the roof the Parish Centre.
- Two Electric vehicle charging points have been fitted at the front of the Parish Centre for public use.
- The Centre’s insulation has been checked to ensure we are not wasting any energy and we were pleased to hear that we have excellent insulation.
All of the above were made affordable through the use of grants.
So, what’s next –
Heat Pump – we are aware that our gas usage presents the largest opportunity for reducing emissions. Knowing this we have investigated replacement of our gas boiler with an air source heat pump. Councillors visited properties where a heat pump had been installed to see first-hand how it works. Currently the equipment is large and can be noisy, not to mention the cost so we have put this on hold for the time being in the hope the cost and size will come down. It is not forgotten and is still on our ‘to do’ list.
Electric Vehicle Charging points – the plan is to extend this project and install further points in other parts of the Parish to provide wider coverage for residents
ChalCAN
ChalCAN was set up in 2019 in response to our declaration of a climate and environmental emergency. Initially constituted as a working group of the Parish Council, ChalCAN are now an independent community group, supported by the Parish Council and working with us where appropriate. There are four working groups of ChalCAN, Energy, Transport, Food and Waste and Biodiversity.
The Parish Council gave permission for the Biodiversity Group to plant 180 trees on the uncultivated land at Middle Hill. This has been named ‘The Spinney’. We are also working with members of the group for the planting of a further 16 trees at Bussage Pleasure Ground.
Working with ChalCAN we have changed our mowing regimes to cut higher and less frequently in 2022. We are also looking to take on the management of some additional areas of land which are currently managed by Stroud District Council.
To read more about ChalCAN, please visit https://chalcan.org.uk/ You can also follow ChalCAN on Facebook.