What is Llangattock Green Valleys?

A group of locals keen to find ways to save energy (and money!) by reducing our personal and our community's carbon footprint. Many of us are interested in alternative ‘renewable' technologies - things like solar, wind and water power, woodfuel and biodiesel. But we're also keen to do as much as we can to make our homes and community buildings cheaper to run and more energy efficient.

How are we doing this?

By sharing knowledge, getting together according to our interests and seeking funding to help bring a range of ambitious projects to life in 2010 and beyond. We've already won over £137,000 worth of funding through the British Gas Green Streets project, and we're in the running to win a further £100,000 for our community.

What sort of projects?

• Allotments - installing a borehole and solar-powered pump for irrigation.
• School and community hall - providing a professional energy assessment to identify ways to make these buildings more comfortable and cheaper to run. PLUS installing photovoltaic (PV) panels on the school roof to generate electricity. Initial forecasts suggest this could provide an income of c.£2,000 a year for the school.
• Woodlands group - bringing local woodlands back under productive management, to provide a sustainable supply of cheap woodfuel for residents. British Waterways, one of our supporters, has given us permission to use the lime kilns on the canal as a community wood store.
• Biodiesel club - working with Sundance Renewables to bring quality biodiesel to Llangattock. Fuel is supplied at cost - currently just over 91p/litre - and because it's made from waste vegetable oil, recycled from restaurants and fast food outlets, it's turning waste to good use while reducing carbon emissions by up to 90%. Bio heating oil is also on the way!
• Litter picks - encouraging everyone to take pride in our community by helping to make Llangattock a cleaner, more beautiful place.
• Micro-hydro - our most ambitious plan: installing a community-owned micro-hydro scheme within the village. The electricity generated will be fed back into the National Grid, producing income to fund other sustainable community projects.
  
  

What else?

Thanks to the British Gas Green Streets project, 46 households will receive professional energy assessments to identify potential improvements, plus financial help to put these in place. Twenty of these homes, selected by public lottery, will each receive up to £4,000 worth of help this year. The remaining 26 will receive several hundred pounds worth of funding. We're also planning other community events and competitions throughout the year.

 

How can you find out more and get involved?

Check out the rest of this website or contact the group you are interested in direct... just go to the Contact Us page.