The £5.7m plan to cut the borough’s carbon output

Councillors will be asked to approve more than £5.7m worth of grant funding for five projects aimed at blitzing carbon emissions.

Proposals would see Wigan Council enter into a grant agreement with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to complete five projects that support “decarbonisation of the public estate”.

The projects to remove or reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) output from the economy will be at Makerfield Way recycling depot, Leigh Sports Village, Leigh Turnpike, Howe Bridge Leisure Centre and the new special educational needs and disability (SEND) school at Central Park.

At Makerfield Way, LED lights would be installed to help reduce the site’s CO2 emissions as part of a plan to become carbon neutral by 2020.

Leigh Sports Village would have solar panels and LED lights installed, while an air source heat pump and LED would be put in at Howe Bridge Leisure Centre.

And LED would also be installed at the Turnpike as well as a boiler replacement and air source heat pump, while the new SEND school would have windows upgraded, a roof installed and ground source heat pump.

A report to be considered by council cabinet this week reads: “The purpose of the scheme is to increase local renewable energy generation and increase the flexibility of local energy supply as part of the council’s contribution towards Greater Manchester’s target of becoming a carbonneutral city region by 2038.

“This is achieved by reducing demand through the installation of low carbon emitting heating systems such as heat pumps, the introduction of better heating controls, solar energy producing photovoltaic systems and more effective levels of glazing and insulation.”

The report said the estimated project cost would be £5.7m which is all within the agreed grant funding application.

It comes after the government announced a national funding scheme in September 2020 to support the decarbonisation of the public estate.

Local authorities were invited to bid for investment opportunities into their estate that would focus on using renewable energy sources, and schemes that would focus on further reduction of the impact of carbon on the environment.

GMCA public estate leads led and agreed to put in a joint bid for the funding, with the application being led by energY catapult systems, supported by research work by Manchester University.

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