Decision details

The Worthing Executive Member for Regeneration has:-

1)     noted the award of £93,400 funding from the Government department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)’s Heat Network Development Unit to Worthing Borough Council:

2)     endorsed the award of a contract to project manage the process of commissioning and contracting consultants to produce the Heat Network Feasibility Study and Master Plan;

3)     approved that Officers work with the project manager to procure and commission consultants to develop the heat network study;

4)     approved a budget virement of £120,000 to fund the cost of the project the funding of which is detailed in section 7.1 of the report; and

5)     noted that an update report will be presented once the feasibility study has concluded, subject to a viable and practical heat network opportunity being identified.

The Adur Executive Member for Regeneration, Councillor Brian Boggis, has agreed to abstain from this decision as a Worthing matter. 

The Joint Strategic Committee of December 3rd 2019, members approved

the adoption of the councils’ Carbon Neutral Plan which identified

interventions towards achieving the carbon neutral goal. It outlined a number

of challenges to overcome. One of these was to decarbonise heating for

council buildings, responsible for 42% of the councils’ 3,000 tonne/year carbon

footprint.

This could be achieved mainly through shifting from gas based

systems to renewable heating systems such as heat pumps.

The Carbon Neutral Plan includes recommendations for specific buildings. It

recommended that the existing, end of their life, gas boilers in Portland House

and Worthing Town Hall, be replaced with renewable heating. Due to the high

cost of individual air source heat pumps (ASHPs) for large buildings, the Plan

recommended exploring the opportunity for a heat network for the whole

Worthing Civic Site.

The Plan recommends that by linking up all the buildings on the Worthing

Civic Quarter Site (WCQ), greater efficiency and viability could be achieved.

A heat network could potentially connect all buildings on the WCQ site,

delivering efficiency and decarbonisation through development of an energy

centre using heat pumps to supply heat to all the buildings on the WCQ site

Not to do anything - not acceptable