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Green future for Brixton as 'low carbon zone' bid is approved

10/09/2009
Green future for Brixton as 'low carbon zone' bid is approved

Brixton is to become a low carbon zone after Lambeth Council won approval for a bid to the Mayor of London.

The funding from the Mayor of London will be used to run schemes to cut fuel bills in hundreds of Brixton homes, as well as develop projects to help residents grow their own food, boost recycling and encourage cycling and walking.

Lambeth Council has set a target of cutting the borough’s carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2012 and 60 per cent by 2025, and the Brixton low carbon zone will provide a model to be replicated across the borough.

Campaigns will be run house by house and street by street to give residents one-to-one advice on how to cut their energy and food bills and help them recycle more. The zone covers 721 residential and commercial buildings.

A Green Business Project will also be set up to work with every business in the area to help them cut their carbon emissions. Businesses will be provided with energy monitors to help them assess their carbon footprint and take steps to reduce it.

Councillor Sally Prentice, Cabinet member for Environment on Lambeth Council, said:

"We've set ourselves challenging targets for carbon reduction because we all have to raise our game and act now if we are to avert climate change.

"Cutting people's fuel consumption by making their homes more energy efficient saves them money, which is vital for families on low incomes, and the initiatives that will form the Brixton Low Carbon Zone scheme will help some of Lambeth's least well off residents.

"This funding will help support a range of important projects that will make Brixton a flagship low carbon area and build on the fantastic work already being done by the council, community like Transition Town Brixton, as well as businesses.

"The vision of Brixton's Low Carbon Zone is to get every business and household involved so that the area becomes a centre of excellence in carbon reduction that can be replicated across the borough."

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said:

"There was a high calibre of bids from across the boroughs and it was a difficult choice. But the winning entries are championing the latest technologies, which will help us to become a leading low carbon city."

Lambeth's bid totals £330,000 over three years, and the council will learn the exact amount of funding it is to receive in the coming weeks.

Permalink: http://www.lambethfirst.org.uk/green-brixton

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