The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) welcomes and supports a Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) report published recently which reveals that England needs a huge investment in energy efficiency if the country is to meet its 2015 carbon reduction target and stop consequential damage to the countryside.
CPRE's 'Warm and Green' report claims that energy efficiency has been grossly underplayed in discussions and policy direction on England's future energy supply, and that needs to change especially in rural areas.
The report highlights the potentially huge impact of infrastructure on the countryside if old and new homes remain energy inefficient, and illustrates the dearth of funding for improvements in rural areas.
In seeking solutions to these problems, the National Association supports the proposals contained in the report of:
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More fairer distribution of energy efficiency funding. At the moment 18 per cent of the population live in rural areas, but those areas receive less than 1 per cent of funding for energy efficiency improvement
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National programme to reduce energy and carbon emissions from homes and community buildings
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For rural communities to receive a fairer share of funding for energy efficiency
Cllr Ken Browse, chair of NALC, said: "Parishes have a key role to play in delivering and promoting reduced energy and carbon emissions and NALC looks forward to working with Government, the Rural Coalition (including CPRE) to help achieve this. Clearly what is needed is urgent action to increase energy efficiency and reduce the level of carbon emissions in the country."
View CPRE report