Sustainability
BC HEAT & WIND NETWORK SURVEY
The Report sent to the Town Council seeking approval of the network’s inclusion in the
draft Neighbourhood Plan can be access below, as can the full results of the community
survey
BC Heat & Wind Community Survey results
To read more a more detailed description of the Heat & Wind Network and the FAQs that
the community has raised so far see below. . .
BC Heat & Wind Network document
Copies of the following documents can be found on this page (see below relevant sections):-
- BC Climate & Ecology Action Plan
- ‘Going Wild in BC’ survey link
- BC Food Resilience Strategy
- Climate Plan inputs to draft Neighbourhood Plan
BC SEED BANK
Launch Day on Saturday, 14th August from 12 – 2 p.m
at Little Woodbatch Market Garden, Woodbatch Lane, SY95J
HEAT NETWORK FOR BISHOP’S CASTLE
The local environment charity Lightfoot are starting a project looking at the possibility of a Heat network for Bishop’s Castle. Heat networks have a Central Energy Hub from where heat is delivered to buildings around the network. They offer a much easier and more efficient route to providing low-carbon heating than every individual house having their own heat pump, especially in a fairly constrained Town like Bishop’s Castle. As most properties in the Town are currently on oil or LPG heating a Heat network using heat pumps could provide significant carbon savings.
The project will be managed by Sharenergy of Shrewsbury who are experts in Community Energy, their Development Manager Dave Green is known by many in the town as he used to be the Energy Officer for the Household Energy Service. The details of the Heat network will be investigated by Carbon Alternatives, an Oxfordshire company specialising in Heat network development. Advice will also be sought from the Swafham Priors Heat team who are in the process of fitting a Heat network in their Cambridgeshire village. Money for the feasibility work is being sought from the Next Generation grant scheme, through Shropshire and Telford Community Energy.
If a Heat network is viable for Bishop’s Castle then it would be ideal to combine it with a Community-owned wind turbine. Every unit of electricity generated by the turbine can then be turned into 3 or 4 units of heat for properties in the Town (which could include the schools and SpArc, as well as housing). Sharenergy are starting to look at possible sites for a wind turbine and opening discussions with landowners. If a site or choice of sites can be identified then there will be a public consultation to see if there’s enough support for the site or sites to be included in the draft BC Neighbourhood Plan. There will be a public meeting early September (details to be confirmed).
If you are interested in this project please contact Mike Watkins (tel: 630277) or e-mail <townplan@bishopscastle.co.uk>
1 CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
The Sustainability Working Group submitted the Climate & Ecology Action Plan (CAP for short) to the Town Council who have approved it. There will be more information here on the CAP’s activities. If you can help us with some of these activities please e-mail us at :- townplan@bishopscastle.gov.uk
or contact us via our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/communityplan
You can download a copy here BC CAP Apr2020 version
Any comments or suggestions you have would be most welcome and can be made by contacting the Sustainability Working Group chair: Mike Watkins, mikejwatkins@hotmail.co.uk
2 ‘GOING WILD IN BC’
The on-line questionnaire is still open and can be accessed here https://survey.sogosurvey.com/r/Qh3uJZ
Meantime, we are planning a series of activities, a Birdsong Walk led by Peter Carty on Thursday, 27th May (6 p.m St John’s Church), hay-making in the Churchyard, a Town tree walk, clearing and planting wildflowers on the ‘Straight Mile’.
If you would like to get involved contact us via townplan@bishopscastle.gov.uk
or call Mike Watkins on 630277
3 BC FOOD RESILIENCE STRATEGY
This document – the lead author of which is Daphne du Cros of Little
Woodbatch Market Garden – has now been approved by the Town Council.
You can download a copy of the document here . . .Draft BC Community Food Strategy 2021 Master v3.1
There is also a survey to complete with a closing date of 3rd September which can be found at https://survey.sogosurvey.com/r/zHZRgx
4: NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN: Climate & Bio-diversity ideas for inclusion
Sustainability BC were asked to put forward ideas on how to improve the draft Neighbourhood Plan’s
climate mitigation contents. A copy of the document submitted can be downloaded here . . .Bishop’s Castle NP Climate Mitigation Extracts Master v3.1