We are delighted to announce that Bruton Town Council has been awarded £75,000 by the Somerset County Council Climate Emergency Community Fund, for the Bruton and Cary Retrofitting Project.

‘Retrofitting’ means a comprehensive plan of home improvements aimed at radically improving the energy performance of a property. Mayor Ewan Jones said:

Retrofitting home improvements that save energy offers the greatest return on investment of all carbon emission reductions – while delivering warmer more comfortable homes, where families can live more healthily. Like many Somerset towns, Bruton has a high proportion of older, much loved but ‘hard to treat’ traditional buildings. “Retrofit Bruton & Cary” will help to build the local skills that will create local jobs as retrofitting accelerates.

We have developed the Project in partnership with Centre for Sustainable Energy, Castle Cary Town Council, One Planet Bruton and Greener Cary. Our intention is to employ a professionally qualified ‘retrofit co-ordinator’ who will give independent expert advice to homeowners about the best and most carbon-efficient way of improving their homes, at the same time as working with local builders to develop their expertise in this field of work. The Centre for Sustainable Energy is a long-established national charity with expertise in this field. They will provide professional support to the Project and to the co-ordinator.

At the moment we expect the Project to last for 18 months, with the co-ordinator starting work in September. More information will follow nearer the time. You can read more about low-carbon retrofitting here.

Read our Frequently Asked Questions here.