Hanwell

Hanwell

Welcome to the Hanwell 'Our Bigger Story' website. This is part of the multi media evaluation of 15 Big Local areas in England. The website is an opportunity to follow what is changing in Hanwell as a result of Big Local over a ten year period.

The aim of the website is to share the learning from everything that is happening in Hanwell with other Big Local areas and highlight what works in communities with a wider audience of practitioners and policy makers.

Image Title
Guardian communities articles.
Album: Mark pepper, Guardian, Green energy projects
July 3, 2020

Mark Pepper, a lifelong resident who works full-time as the project development manager of Ambition Lawrence Weston, said the lockdown had strengthened the community and made people more determined to push ahead with infrastructure projects that could make them more resilient to future shocks. He says residents realise they can make money and save the planet at the same time. Helped by donors, including a lottery-funded Big Local budget and a 50% share in the profits of a solar power plant, they have hired specialist consultants to help them draw up an ambitious community action plan to build affordable, environmentally friendly housing, install new charging points for electric cars and improve cycle access. Residents " 70% of whom say they struggle to pay heating and electricity bills " can use a mobile phone app that employs thermal imaging to spot weaknesses in the energy efficiency of their homes. Local traders then fix the draughty windows and insulate the lofts, but only charge a fee to those who can afford it. "We're doing a lot on climate, but only by accident," Pepper says. "We used to think the climate was a middle class problem, that had nothing to do with us because we have low car ownership and few people take foreign holidays. Our residents have more pressing worries like paying the rent, heating their homes and buying enough food for their families." But they now see it as a way of investing in the future. Later this month, Pepper " who left school with no qualifications " is expecting a response to the community's proposal to build a £5.4m wind turbine. The planned 4.5MW tower would be erected 3km from Lawrence Weston and generate enough electricity to power 3,850 homes and generate an income for the community of between £50,000 and £400,000 a year depending on borrowing costs. "We want an economic return as well as a reduced carbon footprint. We'll use the cash for a training academy so that residents can get good jobs in renewable technology, energy efficiency and passive building construction," Pepper says. For him, this is a question of independence. "We hope that after Covid there is more recognition for grass-roots social infrastructure that enables us to help ourselves more," he said.