Electric buses and solar car parks in £18.2m proposals
COUNCIL GREEN REVOLUTION
THE first details of an £18.2m council-funded green energy revolution in Hull have been revealed.
Six projects will be developed over the next decade aimed at meeting Hull City Council’s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
Capital funding to turn the schemes into reality was allocated earlier this year ahead of a formal resolution by the full council to set the 2030 target.
Now cabinet councillors will be asked later this month to approve the start of commissioning work to deliver each initiative.
The six projects are:
Constructing an onshore wind turbine and battery storage site within the city boundary at a location yet to be identified.
Rolling out a programme of rooftop solar panels on council properties and looking at the feasibility of building a large solar farm at a former landfill site in Bransholme.
Installing a network of energygenerating solar canopies at council-owned public car parks, including leisure centres and the Priory Park park and ride facility.
A pilot scheme encouraging the city’s two bus operators to trial electric vehicles in conjunction with new charging points at the Transport Interchange in the city centre.
More electric vehicle charging points for rail travellers at Paragon Station’s car parks in a proposed profit-sharing partnership with Transpennine Express.
Extra charging points for the council’s own fleet of electric vehicles.
Scrutiny councillors were given an update yesterday ahead of the cabinet meeting on October 26.
They heard the council aimed to recoup its spending on the projects though lower energy costs and selling power to the National Grid.
Garry Taylor, the council’s director of major projects, said current forecasts suggested the authority could end up making a profit of £400,000 a year if all the schemes are successfully delivered.
Councillor Paul Drake-davis said finding a suitable site for the proposed wind turbine was crucial, because residents living near the large turbine at Croda’s factory off Clough Road continued to suffer from noise problems associated with its operation.
It’s thought the new turbine could be constructed at the former Mcbride factory site in Sutton Fields, which the council bought last year.
The potential for a solar farm at the old landfill site in Bransholme has been explored before.
The 50-acre site was closed in the late 1980s and remains officially designated as contaminated land.
It contains a mix of domestic, industrial and commercial waste and lies close the city boundary next to Holderness Drain.
Martin Budd, the council’s climate change manager, said above ground solar canopies could eventually be a common sight at most surface car parks in the city.
He said detailed work was also being carried out on the best way to roll out electric vehicles charging points in residential areas, from using existing infrastructure such as lamp posts to developing new community-based charging hubs.