Walsall Council has been awarded £2.6m to invest in energy efficiency measures at Darlaston Swimming and Fitness Centre. Funding has been awarded by Salix during Phase 2 of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
Walsall Council was successful in bidding in an extremely competitive environment. The window for applications closed early because the value of applications quickly reached more than £150 million and only £75 million of funds were available to allocate to this phase of the scheme.
The key aim of the Phase 2 Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is to enable the public sector to be at the forefront of decarbonising buildings in the UK and create exemplar projects that pave the way to help the UK Government to reach net zero carbon by 2050. The project at Darlaston Swimming and Fitness Centre will include replacement of end of life gas boilers with high capacity air source heat pumps, installation of solar panels, LED lighting and other technology that will help the building run in a more energy efficient way.
Councillor Adrian Andrew, Deputy Leader of Walsall Council said:
“For the council to be able to reduce its carbon footprint by over 400 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year as well as saving money on spiralling energy costs, all via this external funding, is excellent news. This represents real investment in Darlaston and will help us to safeguard this local leisure facility for many years to come.
“As well as that though, the money saved can be ploughed back into valued and essential local services.”
Councillor Garry Perry, Deputy Leader for Resilient Communities said:
“It’s fantastic that we’ve been successful in bidding for this investment in Darlaston Swimming and Fitness Centre. When the work is complete, users of the Centre may not easily see the changes, but they can do their swim and gym knowing that the facility is doing its bit to address climate change.
“We’ve had long-standing issues with the out-dated boiler system at Darlaston which has no doubt impacted on the experience of pool users. This is ‘investment plus’ — it deals with the problem, provides a more cost effective solution and contributes to decarbonisation. It’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned.”
The Council declared a climate change emergency on 16 September 2019 and committed to becoming a net zero carbon authority by 2050. On 21 October 2020, Cabinet approved a climate emergency action plan to address the commitments of the declaration passed in 2019, including all direct emissions from the activities of the Council or under the Council’s control. This includes fuel combustion on site such as gas boilers, fleet vehicles and air-conditioning leaks.
A project timeline will be completed by the end of April, with works expected to be completed by March 2023.
