A COMMUNITY project to install solar panels in Whittington has been praised by a local MP.
Staffordshire Community Energy (SCE) was set up by funds from residents who bought shares in the project.
Since 2011 it has owned solar panels on the village hall in Whittington and St Giles Hospice, allowing savings of more than £12,000 to be made on energy bills for both buildings over the past 13 years, as well as paying modest rate of interest for those local people who invested at the outset.
SCE has since expanded across Staffordshire, installing solar panels on Royal Stoke Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford thanks to £300,000 raised from a further share offering.
Sarah Edwards, Labour MP for Tamworth, visited Whittington to learn about the work of SCE. She said:
“It was fantastic to see how much SCE have achieved and how much progress they have made in reducing the carbon footprint of the village.
“I have promised to support them in the projects they are investigating and to encourage my ministerial colleagues to look at them as a model for future schemes to achieve net zero carbon emissions areas across the UK.”
Surplus from the SCE projects goes to support initiatives such as Keep Warm Keep Well to provide advice for those living in cold or damp conditions.
Mike Kinghan, director and co-founder of SCE, said:
“We were very pleased to welcome Sarah to the village to see and hear about the exciting work SCE has done with local organisations and about its plans for the future.
“Community ownership of renewables is a fantastic way to build support for the vital cause of getting to net zero carbon emissions and we are delighted to have Sarah’s support.”
For more information visit staffscommunityenergy.org.uk.
