South Ribble Council headquarters gets green makeover to tackle climate change after £145,000 grant boost

The building in West Paddock, which is the administrative heart of South Ribble Borough Council, has had an array of 'green' technology installed after the cash boost from central Government earlier this year.

Changes include solar panels on the roof and replacement of lights for LED alternatives.

>>>Click here to read about South Ribble's Big Tree Plant initiative.

Councillor Michael Titherington, deputy leader of South Ribble Borough Council said: “We continue to work towards our goal of South Ribble becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and as part of our Climate Emergency Action Plan, we’ve been identifying energy improvements within the council’s main buildings.

“We were awarded a government public sector decarbonisation grant of around £145,000 in February 2021, which has allowed further green technology to be implemented at the Civic Centre, including a second tranche of solar panels and a solar panel battery pack, installation of LED lighting, plus improvements to the building management system which will allow us to monitor and control energy use in the building, therefore making the building more energy efficient which is a key carbon reduction measure within our Climate Emergency Strategy."

In late 2020, a public consultation was launched to gather residents’ views on the Climate Emergency Strategy, which have helped to inform and prioritise future actions to tackle climate change.

Actions included in the plan are based around the key themes of; transport, energy and the built environment, consumption, waste and water, off-setting and resilience.

Key parts of the action plan include: working to improve the local electric vehicle charging infrastructure, encouraging active transport, improvements to buildings and energy, and reducing consumption and waste - which includes working towards the Council’s aim of eliminating the use of Single Use Plastics by 2025.

The plan builds on the action already being delivered by the Council such as the big tree plant which has seen, with help of partners and residents, more than 62,000 trees planted in the borough, more electric vehicle charging points installed and continuation of the green links programme, which provides 8km cycling routes and 5km walking routes around the borough.

The Climate Emergency Action Plan can be viewed on the South Ribble Borough Council website: https://southribble.gov.uk/article/1254/Climate-Change-Emergency