Agenda item

(1)          The Committee welcomed Mr Jelly to the meeting and invited him to give a brief introduction before answering questions from members of the Committee.

(2)          Mr Jelly referred to the briefing paper that he had provided for the Committee.  This set out the background to and details of the Elham Going Green brand and provided answers to the questions circulated with the papers for the meeting. 

(3)          Mr Jelly explained that Elham was 11 miles south of Canterbury in  the Elham Valley. The valley was 21 miles long connecting Folkestone with Canterbury.. Elham was a small village of 620 households with 1500 residents mainly reliant on oil for heating.  Elham was essentially a retirement village which comprised 70% of residents over 60 year of age. His role within the Group had been to facilitate a range of projects, such as a community energy saving project, 3 eco fairs and 2 renewable energy feasibility studies. The group had also initiated a sustainable food project comprising 24 allotments now run by the Elham allotment society.   Elham Going Green had a website and a column in the “Elham news” which covered government, and KCC energy initiatives, together with energy saving tips.

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Q - What reasons led you to establish Elham Going Green?

(4)          Mr Jelly stated that the Church was well supported in Elham and had organised a Frequently Asked Questions meeting in 2007 held in the local pub with the topic of “how green is our valley”  attended by 60 – 70 people.  This was the start of Elham Going Green which, following this meeting, resulted in the formation of the Elham Environment Group with the support of KCC.  Shortly after its formation, the group was appointed by KCC to conduct a Low Carbon community project targeting a 20% reduction in Elham’s carbon footprint.

Q – In southern Austria areas use biomass/cooking oil/ pig manure to produce biogas, in the information that you have provided, it is suggested that the momentum has gone out of this movement. Can you explain?

(5)          Mr Jelly stated that the Group had managed to undertake high level feasibility studies of the village in relation to a) biomass b) wind turbine c) solar systems and d) heat pumps.  In relation to biomass they had gone so far as to scope a small district heating system driven by a wood pellet fired boiler which could feed the Church/school/homes.  When they looked at the idea in more detail the group approached the Church, which was the most in need of an upgraded system.  The church was struggling for finance and they made it clear for financial reasons that they were not ready to go down this route so they are still using the existing oil fired boiler for heating.

(6)          In relation to houses many of the residents were over 60 and although in the mind-set of being environmentally friendly, value for money and cost effectiveness, including “am I going to be here long enough to recoup the benefit” were also part of their decision making.   However, since the introduction of the government feed-in tariff, a significant number of households had installed solar PV and  solar thermal panels on roof tops.

Q – In relation to wood fuel there is a lot of resistance to the idea of wood pellet driven boilers, due to the fear of demand outstripping supply, however there are extensive woodlands in Kent that would benefit from this process.  In Kent there is an enormous capacity for the growth of wood fuel would you agree?

(7)          Mr Jelly agreed and stated that Mathew Morris from Kent Downs AONB was an expert in this area, he agreed that there was a misconception about the demise of woodland for fuel which needed to be corrected.   Mr Price confirmed that Mr Morris had agreed to be a witness and would be attending a meeting of the Committee to answer questions from Members.

Q – What are your groups views on shale gas/fracking?

(8)          Mr Jelly stated that speaking on behalf of the Group they had educated themselves on this technology, including attendance by some members at a conference at Canterbury Christchurch University, to hear the conflicting views put forward by experts.  However, within the Group there was a split about this issue and as a non campaigning group, decided to remain neutral.  As the fracking company’s had now withdrawn their licences’ they had let the idea rest.  Mr Jelly expressed the personal view that it was a risky technology which needed to be well controlled with adequate and experienced regulatory resource in place. Mr Jelly noted that fracking was not mentioned within the Kent Environmental Strategy but he acknowledged the difficulty that KCC might have with this.

(9)          A Member explained that KCC is the minerals planning authority for Kent and one of 5 bodies who have to give permission for fracking and because KCC is required to treat any planning application impartially, it was not appropriate for KCC to have a view.

Q – A legacy of Elham Going Green is the way that you have inspired other groups.  A number of rural communities are looking at how they can bring down the cost of oil for residents is this something that Elham is also doing?

(10)       Mr Jelly stated that 5 years ago they discovered a company “boiler juice” which claimed to reduce tanker miles, by delivering to a number of residents in one locality at a reduced rate.  The group subsequently found that the tankers were coming further than first thought and this scheme was therefore self-defeating.  Subsequently, Elham and a two other local villages had registered with a national organisation ”The Oil Club”, an on-line, email based company, Each  month or two, club members are invited to place orders with the company.  Delivery was not immediate as the company waited until they had a tanker load for the area but the prices were very competitive.

(11)       In relation to bulk buying, Mr Jelly stated that a local solar PV supplier in Barham had been approached by the group and had offered a discount of 5% to about six interested households in the village He expressed the view that there was still further scope for bulk buying. 

(12)       Mr Jelly also referred to the companies offering free loft insulation but stated that one of the barriers for older people in taking up these offers was the problem of loft clearance.  The Group were interested in trying to set up an initiative to help older people with loft clearance so that they could improve their loft insulation but had not been successful. 

Q – What is your view of wind turbines and solar arrays ?

(13)       Mr Jelly stated that as a result of their renewable energy feasibility studies they had held a public meeting to inform and debate candidate technologies, including wind turbines. and solar arrays Prior to the meeting a wind turbine opposition group had already formed and were quite vocal in stating their arguments at the enquiry..  In response, it was pointed out that there were three parallel valleys close to Elham which might offer a possible site, essentially out of view from the village with sufficient wind speeds to ensure economic operation.  After the close of the meeting results from an exit poll signified a solid opposition of around 20%. However, others were more open to the idea but the overall preference was for Solar PV or Biomass systems.

(14)       Following the meeting, the group had approached Elham school and the village hall in relation to roof top Solar PV.  However finances were not available in both cases and in the former major repairs were due on the school roof .which was deemed to have priority

Q – Were the school aware of the economic argument for the installation of solar panels?

(15)       Mr Jelly confirmed that it had been explained to the school that the feed-in tariff could be a good income stream for the school but the capital costs for the roof repairs was a dominating factor at the time.

Q – Could you elaborate on the ways in which KCC could further support Elham Going Green as set out in your submission?

(16)       Mr Jelly referred to bulk purchase schemes aligned to low interest loans for solar PV panels. He gave an example of solar panels supplied through IKEA via a finance deal. This could be a possible initiative for KCC to pursue or encourage.

(17)       In relation to collective utility switching it was understood that KCC had already run a pilot scheme which 2500 residents had taken up.  It was uncertain though whether the scheme had been rolled out further across the whole of Kent.

(18)       Assistance to establish some form of loft clearance scheme to enable older people who wanted to insulate their loft would be helpful.  

(19)       Mr Jelly suggested that consideration be given to KCC setting up an environmental roadshow which could be taken out to Parish Councils to showcase KCC initiatives and strategies that would encourage householders to implement more energy saving measures

Q – What advice would you give anybody who is thinking of encouraging their village to “go green”?

(20)       Mr Jelly advised that it was important to win the hearts and minds of the people. Holding public meetings was a successful way of doing this as well as talking face to face with residents on a door to door basis.  Rather than going for a top down approach It was necessary to get grass roots engagement and people on side, i.e. more of a bottom up approach. He would advise anyone to have a go but to do their homework on the technologies first in order to spark interest and to get a core of people really wanting to take part.

(21)       The Chairman thanked Mr Jelly for his written response and for attending the meeting to answer questions from Members.