Low Carbon Skills Fund grant for decarbonisation plan

The council has been awarded £55,800 from the Government’s Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund.

The fund provides grants for eligible public sector organisations to engage specialist and expert advice and skills needed to create robust heat decarbonisation plans to prepare for heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency works.

The council applied for the grant for its largest asset, Royal Victoria Place shopping centre in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Since acquiring the centre in 2023 the council has been exploring opportunities to support its ambition to achieve net zero for council operations by 2030.

The grant will be used to develop a detailed specialist heat decarbonisation plan for Royal Victoria Place. The plan will demonstrate how the council can reduce emissions in the centre by moving away from fossil fuels and moving towards renewable heat sources and improved energy efficiency.

Councillor Rob Wormington, Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability said: ‘Focusing on Royal Victoria Place is very important in helping the council achieve its strategic ambition of creating a net zero borough. This heat decarbonisation plan will give us details of what needs to be done to make the centre more energy efficient and reduce emissions.’

Lee Colyer, TWBC's Director of Finance, Policy and Development said: ‘We are delighted to have been awarded this grant to support our ambition to reduce emissions at Royal Victoria Place as part of our wider decarbonisation ambition across the council’s property portfolio’.

The grant comes from Phase 5 of the Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund which will provide up to £16 million of grant funding for the financial year 2024 to 2025. The scheme is run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and is delivered by Salix.