North Somerset faces up to net zero challenges thanks to government funding

Area looks to the future for its town hall and theatre

Home to beautiful golden beaches and rolling countryside, North Somerset has every reason to put climate change at the top its agenda.

In November 2019, North Somerset Council published its first climate emergency strategy and action plan, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the county and to improve resilience in a changing climate. 

Again, in November 2022, after some progression, it adopted a refreshed climate emergency action plan to reflect the next key areas of focus.  

To build on this agenda, the council has recently been awarded £201k under Phase 5 of the Low Carbon Skills Fund aimed at helping public sector organisations create a robust heat decarbonisation plan.

The funding, run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by our teams at Salix, will mean the council can progress its climate emergency strategy and action plan to reduce carbon emissions.

During a recent site visit to the Town Hall in Weston-Super-Mare, our Salix team toured the site to discover the practical challenges the council now faces.

The Low Carbon Skills Funding will help pay for a heat decarbonisation plan for the Town Hall as well as the nearby Playhouse Theatre. It means it can now commission specialist site surveys, feasibility studies and audits.

North Somerset executive member for climate, waste and sustainability, Cllr Annemieke Waite said: “The current Town Hall is made up of two distinct buildings. The old Town Hall was built in the mid-1800s and contains many period features, including the old cells. 

“Being an old building, its solid walls and single glazed windows cause considerable heat loss and the cost of heating the building is very high. 

“Integrating modern heat pump technology into this part of the building will be challenging and will require innovative solutions. The Low Carbon Skills Fund grant will be vital to help us create a better building environment. 

“The second part of the Town Hall contains the library as well as a three-story office block. It is a modern 1970s construction which has been fully refurbished. 

“Although the two buildings are connected, they each have a separate heating system. Continuing with two heating systems is expensive, so one aspect of the design process is to investigate whether creating a single system is possible.”

During the visit, our team also had a chance to look at how the council intends to tackle carbon emissions at the popular 664 seat Playhouse Theatre which once played host to Frankie Howard, Ken Dodd and other popular performers.

Set in the centre of Weston-Super-Mare, The Playhouse produces around 350 performances a year and attracts more than 110,000 customers to the venue. 

Annemieke added: “The Playhouse is a great asset for the community, but it too faces a future of rising energy costs. This project will look at how best to deliver an affordable heating solution that will make the building more sustainable.”

Salix client support officer Robert Throssell said: “Both the town hall and the theatre have a heavy footprint and represent significant carbon emissions. It’s important that the council can now begin to address this and work towards achieving its net zero targets.

“It’s great to come along and discuss the plans and see how this funding could potentially change the way the buildings work.”

Client support officer Stephanie Slater said she was impressed by the commitment demonstrated at North Somerset. She said: “The amount of work to be conducted is significant and not to be underestimated. This is only the very beginning of the next journey for these buildings.

“During our visit we were able to not only see the buildings but to meet the very passionate people behind the project as well as get a very real idea about how these buildings are used.”

Annemieke added: “These works are part of our wider climate change adaptation and mitigation plans which aim to reduce our costs and put us in a better position to face future energy challenges.

“The Low Carbon Skills Fund will enable us to look at our current carbon emissions and seek innovative options for the changes needed, before we begin planning the capital works. Keeping up our focus on this work will help to ensure we are less impacted by the changing economic and environmental conditions.”

Thank you to North Somerset for hosting the Salix team, we look forward to following your net zero journey.