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GREENER BOROUGH
eastleigh.gov.uk
Our focus
Des Mahon, a volunteer with the Scouts, said: “The Scouts in Chandler’s Ford are always looking at ways to help our local community and this is just another step towards how we prepare young people with the skills to help other people and have a positive impact on those around them.
As a Council, we are focused on improving the quality of life of everyone living and working in the Borough, both now and in the future. The stories in this issue are themed around the key areas where we are making a positive difference to people’s lives.
Green Borough 2
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Maintaining an attractive and sustainable environment that residents value, and which can allow residents, businesses and nature to thrive.
Health and Wellbeing Improving health and wellbeing, and supporting and creating sustainable communities. We want all our residents and people working in the Borough to live long, healthy and happy lives.
Housing and Development 10
Creating homes and communities to meet residents’ needs. To help support a buoyant housing market, it is essential that there is a sufficient supply of suitable, high-quality homes that can meet the diverse needs of residents. Building new homes and communities provides opportunities for people looking for affordable rent, or a new home to meet their changing needs.
Economy 13
Securing sustainable economic growth, high yet stable employment and a shared prosperity for residents. It is about ensuring every one of us has a good standard of living in strong, safe, sustainable communities.
Green shoots at new tree nursery Work is underway at the new Council-run tree nursery in Horton Heath. The ground has now been prepared at the site and poly tunnels are due to go in over the next few weeks. Three new apprentices have also been employed to work at the nursery.
Residents of all ages join litter picking effort Armed with litter sacks and pickers provided by the Council, groups and individuals took a stand against litter in their area by organising local picks. Large amounts of rubbish were gathered by local litter heroes across the Borough before being collected and disposed of by the Council’s StreetScene team. Seven groups and a number of individuals took part in the litter pick; members of the 3rd Chandler’s Ford Scouts Group took on litter in two areas of Chandler’s Ford, while members of the Hamble Valley Rotary Club collected four sack loads during a two-hour pick in Hedge End.
Eastleigh Lions picked around the Poets’ Roads, Derby Road and Grantham Green area in Eastleigh and residents and staff at Brendoncare Knightwood Care Home cleared their local area. Hamble Conservation Volunteers took part again after a successful pick during last year’s Great British Spring Clean. While parishioners of St Nicolas went out in household groups around North Stoneham.
“Working in partnership with Eastleigh Borough Council as part of the Great British September Clean has been a pleasure for our young people and adult volunteers and the whole group look forward to working with them again in the future.” The Great British September Clean was run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy and litter picks like this happened up and down the country. Cabinet Lead for the Environment, Cllr Rupert Kyrle, said: “The efforts made by these groups is truly inspiring. It’s fantastic to see people who care about their local area giving up their free time to make it a better place for everyone. “It’s such a shame littering happens at all. It’s a blight on our environment, harms wildlife and is completely avoidable if people take their litter home with them or put it in a public bin.”
New government grants for home energy efficiency improvements The UK government is providing a ‘green homes grant’ in the form of vouchers worth up to £5,000 or £10,000 to help cover the cost of making energy efficiency improvements to your home. Improvements could include insulating your home to reduce your energy use or installing low-carbon heating to lower the amount of carbon dioxide your home produces. If you use a voucher for such work, it can be used to help cover the cost of any secondary measures, such as installing draftproofing or double/triple glazing.
In addition to growing trees from seed, the nursery will be taking delivery of over 1,200 young trees, which will be matured at the nursery before being planted out into the Borough. The Council aims to plant 160,000 more trees in the Borough by 2030 - one for every resident, as part of its commitment to tackling the climate and environmental emergency.
The government will provide a voucher that covers two-thirds of the cost of qualifying energy efficiency or low carbon heating improvements to your home, up to a maximum value of £5,000. If you are on a low income and receive certain benefits, you can receive a voucher covering all the cost of the improvements worth up to a value of £10,000.
All the trees grown at the nursery will be native species, chosen for their benefit to local wildlife.
We are helping to promote the scheme as the more people who make energy improvements
to their homes, the closer we will get to our goal of supporting the Borough to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. If you think your home could be leaking energy (and cash) this winter, there’s never been a better time to go green. You must redeem the voucher and ensure improvements are completed by 31 March 2021. Further details are available from the Environment Centre on 0800 8048601, visit environmentcentre.com/get-help/ or the government: gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-thegreen-homes-grant-scheme
