‘Net Zero Neighbourhood’ First for West Midlands

Andy Street’s West Midlands Combined Authority are funding the pioneering scheme

Image credit: WMCA

Brockmoor in Dudley has been chosen to participate in a landmark scheme funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to combat climate change and slash household energy use.

According to the WMCA, the Net Zero Neighbourhoods demonstrator programme will not only help tackle fuel poverty but also support the West Midlands’ ambition to be a net zero region by 2041.

The WMCA will invest £1.65m capital into Phase 1 of the scheme, which will see low energy retrofits take place in at least 50 homes in Brockmoor, as well as wider improvements to the neighbourhood such as new green spaces and transport links.

Eventually up to 300 homes in the area, a mix of both privately owned and social housing properties, will benefit from the Net Zero Neighbourhood scheme.

Homes will undergo ‘deep retrofit’ using insulation with options for solar panels and low carbon heating systems. Other measures introduced on a neighbourhood-wide scale could include LED street lighting, new pocket parks, playgrounds, communal food growing initiatives, green roofs and sustainable drainage systems.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Our region is leading the way when it comes to tackling the climate emergency and the launch of this pioneering Net Zero Neighbourhoods approach is just the latest example of this. We’re delighted to be working with Dudley Council as our first local authority partner and look forward to seeing their plans come to life.

“Retrofit is just part of the cost saving and environmental equation and the magic of the NZN approach is that we can look at issues from a broader, holistic and neighbourhood-wide scale – cleaning, greening and regenerating our communities in a much more systematic fashion with projects like green roofs, solar panels, sustainable drainage systems, low carbon heating systems, LED street lighting, new pocket parks and communal food growing initiatives.

“This is tremendously exciting news and will help us shape the neighbourhoods of the future fostering wellbeing and improving quality of life for local residents for months and years to come.”

Written By: Dominic Stanford, Editor-in-Chief