A brand new scheme is bringing environmental wellness on an unprecedented scale. This has brought lower energy bills and warmer homes to Stockton-On-Tees, and has also brought 500 new jobs to the area.
Due to the fantastic success, the scheme is now going to be rolled out across the whole of the UK. Called the GoWarm project, this is being run by a community interest company, called Community Energy Solutions (CES) alongside Stockton Borough Council. It has already improved the energy efficiency in around 1,700 homes, all across the areas of Stockton and Thornaby. Individual fuel bills have been reduced by around £750 per year.
The key success for the wellbeing of the scheme was that the council agreed to go into partnership with CES, and this is due to last until 2015. Meanwhile the scheme is being extended and will now cover the whole borough, which means that over 5,000 solid wall, privately owned homes will also be offered the external wall insulation that is central to the scheme, and many of these will also qualify for new central heating and/or new boilers.
David Rose, councilor and environmental cabinet minister, said ‘We can now look forward to transforming thousands more people’s homes – making them warmer, better insulated and cheaper to heat – and regenerating streets.’ When the project is complete, the entire thing is going to cut the carbon emissions from the borough by over 300,000 tons every year.
As well as proving extremely beneficial for the environment, this scheme will save people a lot of money. In addition to this, people who have suffered from health problems as a result of living in cold homes could find that they have improved health in the future, thanks to the scheme.