News

Homeowners on former council estate face £66,000 bill for net zero heating so Labour council can hit its targets

Owners of properties in a former council estate in central London may each have to stump up as much as £66,000 towards a new eco-friendly heating system.

Residents on the estate in Pimlico, Westminster may have to pay towards a low carbon ‘heat network’ in order to help the council hit its Net Zero targets.

The £185million scheme would modernise the system, which contains 60-year-old pipes, and replace three gas boilers which require frequent repairs and are prone to leaks.

The project is expected to cost the owner of a one-bedroom flat £40,000 and could set residents of four-bedroom homes back by as much as £66,000.

Westminster City Council said modernising the system, which is the oldest of its kind and was once powered by Battersea Power Station just over the river, will contribute towards the local authority hitting its target of becoming Net Zero by 2030.

But residents criticised the high cost of the scheme, saying it would make their properties impossible to sell, the Times said.

Along with 3,000 homes, the ailing heating system supplies a library and schools.

Last week a burst hot water pipe closed a local community centre, which also left a car park on the estate stinking of sewage.

Ernest Strafford, who has owned his one-bedroom apartment on the estate since 2010, said the council should be prioritising building repairs rather than rigidly sticking to Net Zero targets and called the scheme a ‘joke’.

He said: ‘Why would I do this if I could get myself off the system altogether and put in something that didn’t have any leaks or problems for £5,000?’

Council officials said replacing the ageing pipes would cost £183million, but have discarded this plan due to their being difficult to reach and because it wouldn’t reduce emissions.

An alternative plan involving a centralised heat pump in the Thames would cost £211million.

Another possibility dismissed by council bosses due to ‘high energy costs and low carbon savings’ was the installation of individual electric water boilers in homes at an estimated cost between £1,500 and £5,000.

Proponents of the new network say it will save costs in the long run and that homeowners will benefit from being shielded from spikes in global energy prices.

Hemiko, the company behind the South Westminster Area Network (SWAN), said the heat network represented the cheapest solution.

Its chief executive Toby Heysham said: ‘Heat networks are the cheapest way to provide low carbon heating, providing a reliable and efficient way to heat homes and businesses.’

He added that the scheme would make use of ‘surplus heat’ that would otherwise go to waste, from sources such as the London Underground.

Councillor Liza Begum, Cabinet Member for Housing Services at Westminster City Council said: ‘The heating system needs to be replaced as a long-term solution to continuous leaks and disruption on the estate.’

‘We aim to provide cheap, efficient energy to residents and are working with them to find the best possible solution.

‘The figures stated are early projections and the final proposal will be subject to detailed, design, tender and consultation. Keeping costs down is a priority and we’ll provide as much support as we can.’

Related Posts

Father of British ex-soldier, 22, who was ‘captured by Putin’s forces while fighting for Ukraine on Russia soil’ says he’s terrified he’ll be tortured in captivity after he was paraded on TV

A British former soldier has been captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine in Kursk, his family confirmed tonight. The soldier, James Scott Rhys Anderson, was paraded in front of the cameras and a short video clip published by Kremlin-backed sources online. The 22-year-old’s father told the Daily Mail he was in ‘complete shock’ to discover his son’s fate and said he fears he will be tortured.

I accidentally threw away my boyfriend’s £569MILLION Bitcoin fortune. It wasn’t my fault, but I hope he finds it… because it will finally shut him up!

A woman has revealed how she accidentally threw away the ‘key’ to her boyfriend’s £569million Bitcoin fortune, as he fights for the right to search a huge landfill in an attempt to find it. Halfina Eddy-Evans, speaking for the first time about her ex-boyfriend James Howells’ cyber nightmare, admitted taking the hard drive to the tip in Wales but claims she did so at his request. Howells claims he mined the Bitcoin himself in 2009 and then forgot about it. But after discovering the 8,000 coins are now worth around £569m he is fighting for the right to search the landfill run by Newport Council.

Inside the insidious Democratic plot to keep Biden in office using harassment tactics out of a spy novel

Democratic allies of Joe Biden plotted a secret harassment campaign to keep a third-party challenger out of the 2024 election in order to ensure his victory, even as polls showed voters wanted another option and there were concerns about the president’s health. Their plan included ‘bird dogging’ members of Congress who would support such an option by sending activists to confront them at their offices. It also details a target harassment campaign against No Labels founder Nancy Jacobson and her husband, Mark Penn, a longtime Democratic operative. The plan was to send clowns to block their Georgetown home and drive their neighbors crazy with early morning noise.

La TRISTE PÉRDIDA de Silvia Pinal La ÚLTIMA DIVA del CINE de ORO MEXICANO

Silvia Pinal, la icónica actriz del cine de oro mexicano, fue hospitalizada de emergencia el 22 de noviembre de 2024 debido a problemas de salud. La hija de…

DE ACTRIZ a VIVIR EN LA CALLE Cynthia Klitbo y su TRISTE HISTORIA

La actriz mexicana Cynthia Klitbo revela que ha sido víctima de un robo cibernético, lo que la ha dejado en una situación económica crítica. Klitbo confiesa que le…

DE ACTRIZ a VIVIR EN LA CALLE Cynthia Klitbo y su TRISTE HISTORIA

La actriz mexicana Cynthia Klitbo revela que ha sido víctima de un robo cibernético, lo que la ha dejado en una situación económica crítica. Klitbo confiesa que le…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *