Electric Vehicle Charging Points
n November 2020 the Environment and Planning Committee committed the Town Council to installing EV charging points for community and visitor use.
In April 2021, Full Council agreed to install four EV charging points at the Youth and Community centre as an initial step, selecting Electric Blue as the contractor after a tendering exercise.
These will take advantage of the power produced by our Solar Panels, and our green energy tariff, to make sure that the charging points don’t have an unintended climate impact. Other sites may follow as part of the redevelopment of the Culver Close Pavilion, and around St. Margaret’s Hall.
Bowling Club Borehole
Water use has a climate impact, so anything we can do to reduce the use of mains water is an improvement, and can also save money. Given the close proximity of the Bowling Club to the river, watering the bowling lawn at Barton Farm with borehole -produced groundwater, rather than treated mains water, will reduce the Council’s footprint, and also save it money within two years – a win on both counts.
A New Pavilion
The existing pavilion on Culver Field is not fit for purpose, and work is underway with Bradford on Avon Cricket Club and other partners to replace it with a modern purpose-built facility.
This gives us the opportunity to ensure that the building is as efficient as possible, potentially approaching Passive Build standards, and that eco-technology is built directly in at design stage. Ensuring that these elements are captured will form part of the tender specification as the Town Council selects an architect to move the project forward.
This project will also act as a proof-of-concept for replacement of other buildings coming to the end of their life, and for renovations. It will also link closely with the deployment of EV charging points.
Electric Vehicles
Following successful trials of four potential vehicles, the Town Council has now selected an electric vehicle for use by the Town Wardens.
This will allow us to reduce and eventually eliminate the reliance on the diesel vehicle shared with the Community Emergency Volunteers, particularly in light of larger areas of land and services being transferred from Wiltshire Council as part of the Asset Transfer process.
Community Fridge
The Community Fridge project had fallen victim to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, in late June 2022, the project was launched with food for the fridge being donated by the Bridge Yard Co-op. Thanks to this national scheme, the Community Fridge is regularly stocked.
Food production accounts for a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions – so reducing food waste is a simple but effective way to reduce the town’s carbon footprint.
Water Fountains
The Town Council installed three water fountains around Bradford on Avon in November 2019 and has since then adorned them with plaques featuring the work of local poets.