Mayor's Climate Change Fund and Rural Grant Awards for Array of Great Projects

This week two committees of my Executive - the Rural Affairs and Sustainability Committees - have awarded funds to a range of excellent projects which will bring lasting benefit to local communities across the Borough.

We set aside £100,000 to support important investment in schemes supported by rural Parish Councils every year, and as Chair of the Rural Affairs Committee I was pleased that we supported two projects that will improve community facilities, in Elstow and Willington. We awarded £15,000 as a contribution to Willington Parish Council's important scheme to refurbish the kitchen, small meeting room and storage facilities at the Peace Memorial Hall (Village Hall). The Elstow project, to which we granted the requested £5,000, is for the second phase of improvements at the Elstow Buynan Memorial Hall. This will see crucial work including tackling access and storage improvements as well as introducing mechanical ventilation to various areas and connecting the existing drainage to the mains sewer. Not very glamorous, maybe, but vital work to help secure the building's future for the community.

Meanwhile, the Mayor's Climate Change Fund continues to support innovative, forward-thinking projects which could not otherwise go ahead, and which deliver real savings for local community groups while tackling climate change and protecting our environment. A huge range of local organisations such as charities, schools and places of worship have been able to improve and protect their community facilities thanks to the fund, with projects ranging from solar panels to a variety of insulation schemes. This week's Sustainability Committee considered a number of applications to the Fund, and the following awards were made:

• Biddenham Upper School's application to replace existing inefficient lighting with low energy light fittings and occupancy sensors in the school's Main Hall and Drama Studio: £6,915.30.
• Park Road Methodist Church's application for the installation of secondary glazing, loft insulation and cavity wall insulation: £5,961.25.
• Emmaus Village Carlton's application for the installation of 11 double glazed windows, 3 double glazed doors, insulation of the pitched roof areas with composite panels and insulation of the flat roof areas of the Dovecote building: £20,000.
• Bedford Players Trust's application for the installation of air-source heat pumps (ASHP) at The Place Theatre: £7,705.
• Putnoe Heights Church Community Centre's application to replace existing gas fired warm air heaters with two new energy efficient warm air heaters and the replacement of lighting Community Centre: £5,805.50.

So, some really diverse projects, from a range of different community bodies, all linked by their shared aims of more sustainable community facilities and protection for our environment.