Ideas rejected without thought or discussion

THE Liberal Democrat environment amendments (rejected without thought or discussion at this year’s budget) built on previous proposals put forward which included the building of a large solar farm (rejected at last year budget by this administration).

They also greatly expanded on a much smaller invest to save scheme at

Grazeley by the administration, which would provide just three per cent of West Berkshire’s need.

Our ‘keystone’ this year was and is to investigate becoming an energy supplier.

Something in line with the energy motion bought forward by the Lib

Dems and approved by council unanimously.

By becoming a supplier, opportunities arise that could make a fundamental difference to all residents, business and to the council itself.

Estimates show the potential to fix energy costs significantly lower than current market averages, giving a potential 32 per cent saving on energy bills (or an average of £428.48 saving per household).

All this whilst generating approximately £4m of profit to the council that could support other green initiatives.

That profit is over five times the net return of the council’s risky investment in shops, offices etc and considerably safer given the growing need for green energy as we all go electric in the coming decades.

At the same time as becoming a supplier, we also need to look for local renewable energy sources.

Last year we suggested building a large solar farm, like other councils.

The welcome stake in the ground that has followed, Grazeley, is a good ‘statement of intent’.

However that site could be at least six times larger than is currently planned – so 60MW rather than the current 10MW.

We, therefore, suggested an amendment to investigate a much larger solution and to seek out other locations across West Berkshire, in case expanding Grazeley is not possible.

We also proposed to investigate micro-hydro projects.

We are lucky to have good candidates for this, including the Kennet, Dunn and of course River Lambourn.

There are approximately 60 hydroelectric locations across West Berkshire that could run all day and night.

They could therefore provide up to another 10MW of power.

Micro-hydro uses only around six per cent of the land compared to the same power from solar.

We also proposed a viable villages project.

This required part of an officer’s time to work with parish councils and village communities to truly understand their needs and support things such as energy projects, but also to understand how we might support, say, the local pub, shop etc and in turn reduce carbon by people having the chance to live, work and shop local most of the time.

Important for success is to influence others to help our move to carbon zero. The Lib Dems, therefore, proposed an amendment to rework all supplier contracts and include green parameters laid out in an energy label. This gives all council suppliers a clear visual of parameters that will be considered when responding to council tenders.

Also important to us is removing the green bin charge for those in receipt of council tax benefits, talking the poorest first and part of our standard Lib Dem manifesto.

Finally, we proposed to make all the officer expertise available through our community hub so residents and businesses could take advantage of the public money spent evaluating the solutions above and the expertise within the council.

The total cost of these amendments equates to just a fraction of the net revenue from the projects once deployed.

What a pity the Conservatives were not even willing to listen.

ADRIAN ABBS AND TONY VICKERS

West Berkshire Liberal Democrats