In the last year, just under £1million has been awarded to businesses and community groups in Dorset to help reduce their carbon footprints.
The grants come from Dorset Council’s Low Carbon Dorset programme, and have been used to help fund a host of carbon reduction projects across the county.
In May alone, Low Carbon Dorset awarded grants to help fund over £1.9million worth of low carbon projects. This funding will contribute 40 per cent towards the cost of these projects, which include the installation of solar panels on the roof of Cerne Abbas village hall, the development of the county’s first zero-carbon housing site, two new biomass boilers at Thorngrove nursery, a brand-new energy system at Gillingham leisure centre, and solar PV panels for five schools and five hospitals through Dorset Community Energy.
Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, Cllr Ray Bryan, said of the grants “Dorset Council is in a great position to demonstrate leadership in tackling climate change on a local level, and programmes like Low Carbon Dorset fully support this. The projects funded by this programme are a great example of businesses and community groups putting clean growth and sustainability at the heart of their operations.”
So far, Low Carbon Dorset has helped reduce the county’s carbon emissions by an estimated 1,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.
The programme, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, will continue to provide free support and grant funding to Dorset’s businesses, communities and publicly funded organisations until the end of 2020. Organisations can access this support and funding through the programme’s website: www.lowcarbondorset.org.uk/apply
