Green Streets Prize Draw

The Tackley Village Green Streets prize draw was held in the village hall on July 20th. Prizes with a total value of over £31,000 were on offer from British Gas.

All 78 participants of our Green Streets project received a £50 voucher to be spent on energy saving materials and devices such as eco-kettles, stand-by savers, energy saving light bulbs and radiator panels. 24 households received vouchers worth £250 to cover the cost of cavity wall or loft top-up insulation. These measures should have a considerable impact on energy consumption and the warmth of buildings in winter.

There were five big prizes on offer – four vouchers worth £3,000 and one worth £10,000. The four winners of the £3,000 vouchers were Ollman, Kavanagh, Trefusis and  Paxton. They can have more substantial work done such as replacing an existing boiler with a more efficient condensing boiler or installing some equipment to generate renewable energy.

The main prize of £10,000 was won by Tina Cooke (shown here with Robin Bray of British Gas) for the installation of some renewable energy equipment. The renewable equipment selected by any of the winners will depend on the specific details of the house but the types of schemes that could be considered are solar water heating, solar PV panels and ground-source or air-source heat pumps.

Everyone present also heard Robin Bray, our British Gas Green Streets representative,  give an update on the installation of a ground-source heat pump and solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the village hall. These two projects should be complete by the end of the summer and will enable the village hall to considerably reduce its energy consumption. The benefit from the PV cells will be  shared with St Nicholas and the Methodist church, the other two community buildings in the project.

Tackley Village Green Streets Project  - Key Facts

Total Bid – worth £137,000

Saving energy

• All homes and businesses in the village can benefit
• 78 homes will take part more actively, getting smart meters, energy audits and entry in the ballot
• All 78 households will win prizes
  (1 x £10k, 4 x £3k, 24 x £250 and 78 x £50)
• School will get children involved – effective at changing behaviour
• Hall - lighting modifications and wall insulation (partly village funded)
• St Nicholas - boiler modifications
• Data consolidator will motivate and keep pressure up

Generating energy

• We had initially selected the three community buildings which rely solely on village fundraising to cover energy costs.
• Following British Gas Feasibility study we decided most effective solution is to install a PV panel on the roof of the community centre as a shared community resource;  
• Energy generated will be shared between the centre and two churches and allocated according to their relative energy usage.
• In addition the centre will get a heat pump dug under the existing playing field just alongside

Village Event Plans

• Public meeting held to inform and sign up households
• School project
• Information in hall/shop
• Prize Draw
• Energy Day
• Celebration at end of project

5 Electricity Usage Monitors Available

on Free Loan

We have 5 electricity monitors available which can be borrowed by households involved in the Green Streets initiative – the monitors tell how much electricity you are using and how much it costs. Put your name on the rota in the village shop and you can use the monitor in your home for a week.

The monitor really helps to show which gadgets are energy guzzlers, and how you can reduce your energy use and costs!