News from Wilbrahams’ Environment Group – December 2023

Insulation, Insulation, Insulation…

Insulation is one of the most important but often overlooked ways of reducing this country’s energy consumption (and use of Fossil fuels)

Do you think your home may be losing too much heat to the exterior through the walls, doors, windows or loft?  Would you like photographic evidence of this to help you see what you could do to reduce your own energy use?

WEG has arranged for a second year to borrow a Thermal Imaging Camera for a few days around New Year.  If you would like us to survey heat loss from your home, please email your contact details to wilbrahamseg@gmail.com, or telephone 07594 601205, as soon as possible. No charge but modest donations invited for Cambridge Carbon Footprint who supply the camera

Solar farm Update

East Cambs District Council has now given Planning Consent, subject to a long list of conditions, for the site between the A11 and the A14. The site is relatively small (less than 50 hectares) but will produce power for 10,730 homes, save lots of CO2 and increase biodiversity on the site by 66% . Any loss of agricultural land is controversial but this land is Grade 3 (the best is Grade 1.)

The developers Ridge Clean Energy now have to design and get Planning Consent for their underground cabling to connect their site all the way to a National Grid substation  –  at Cherry Hinton by Tesco’s!  WEG lobbied Ridge not to bring the cables through the centres of our villages and showed them a better route which they agree “works” but we and others will continue to keep a watchful eye on this, and the Planning Conditions.

Litter

The Wilbrahams are fortunately not hotspots for litter but, at our suggestion, Great Wilbraham Parish Council has agreed to buy its own “kit” ie litter grabbers, binbag “rings” etc.  We will organise more litter picks next year and work with groups in Little Wilbraham and Six Mile Bottom.  If you would like to take part, please get in touch.