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Sustainability plan wins 180k green title for Moseley
| Published: 21st November 2009 21:11 |
An outstanding level of community support, in the words of the judges, has helped Moseley win a top award as one of the greenest urban villages in the country.
The sustainability group SusMo scooped the West Midlands regional title in the British Gas ‘Green Streets' competition.
Moseley's winning project will install energy-saving and renewable energy measures in 20 homes, and a number of community buildings.
"To make Britain a greener place we need to build on the commitment and initiative of our communities," said Andrew Hogan, British Gas Director of Communications who was one of the judges. "All the inspiring presentations we saw are proof of the passion, knowledge and energy that is out there in our communities. We were particularly encouraged by the strong focus that SusMo had on diversity and the ideas they had to involve the whole community."
Claire Spencer, vice-chair of Moseley Forum and a member of SusMo praised the many local residents who lent their support to the ‘Green Streets' competition entry.
"We would like to thank the people of Moseley for their messages of support, which were an important part of our bid," she said. In an earlier story AboutMyArea included a link for readers to email their backing.
"We hope that the Moseley Green Streets project will be a solid starting point for the expansion of energy saving advice in the community, leading to energy efficient improvements in homes, businesses and community buildings and to changes in behaviour which will save money and help to save our planet," said Claire.
All regional finalists will now be competing to win a further £100,000 investment for their community at the final judging in 2011. Each community will be judged on how much energy was saved and generated over the course of the scheme, and the level of involvement from the wider community.
What is being planned?....
Sustainability measures being planned for Moseley include insulation, energy advice, solar thermal panels, photovoltaic panels and wind turbines. These will be chosen to ensure the most cost-effective CO2 emission-cuts for each building.
As it stands, each building plans to install the following:
• St. Mary's Church is seeking planning permission for the installation of a roof mounted photovoltaic system to generate its electricity, most of which would be fed back into the grid, generating income.
• Hamza Mosque wishes to install a solar hot water system to heat the water required for Wudhu (washing before prayers). This would be an essential ecological step forward, and will be both spiritually and practically significant.
• Moseley CofE School has a sustainability action plan that includes food growing, improving biodiversity in the grounds, reducing waste through composting and recycling, working on wider sustainability through the Extended Schools Cluster, and a Walking Bus to discourage car use. They also wish to install energy saving measures in the school such as thermostats, and on-site renewables.
• MADAHAL manages the 248-plot Moor Green allotment site, and has developed a sustainability action plan, and is commissioning a renewable energy feasibility study to look at options such as wind, photovoltaic cells, and renewable heating systems for their Pavilion such as air source/ground source heat pumps, and biomass.
• Moseley & District Churches Housing Association is a community-based provider of housing and care. They will put forward 10 homes that are in need of energy efficiency improvements. In addition, St Mary's Church and Hamza Mosque will each nominate five private sector households that would benefit from energy efficiency improvements.
• Moseley Community Development Trust will act as lead partner for the project and will host a community energy company, which will reinvest a portion of the savings and income generated by through the installations provided by the SusMo Green Streets project.
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