£4.1 million awarded to West Suffolk Council for decarbonisation projects at Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill leisure centres

West Suffolk Council has been awarded £4.1 million from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to decarbonise Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill Leisure Centres.

The council successfully applied to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme which is run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by Salix.

The grant is designed to support the removal of gas from public buildings which meet certain criteria.

The Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill leisure centres are eligible based on the age of the fossil fuelled heating plant at both locations which are over 10 years old.

The innovative project will see the removal of all gas from the sites.

The council is contributing just under £600,000 to the project funded by a loan facility secured with the National Wealth Fund to support the delivery of the council’s net zero agenda.

The funding will enable a range of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures to be installed at both sites including energy efficient air source heat pumps to replace all gas heating systems; solar panel canopies in the car parks to generate on site renewable energy; building energy management systems to ensure efficiency and full control of building parameters e.g. pool and air temperatures; and various building and pipework insulation improvements to help reduce heat loss.

The new measures will help achieve better heating control, improved plant reliability which will reduce disruption to leisure services, and the solar canopies covering car parking spaces will generate more renewable energy.

Carbon savings are projected to be 375 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year (tCO2/yr) for Haverhill and 380 (tCO2/yr) for Bury St Edmunds.

These savings will contribute significantly to the council’s decarbonisation journey.

Abbeycroft will work with contractors to help reduce disruption to users of the leisure centre facilities whilst the works are carried out and the work programme at Bury Leisure Centre will be incorporated into the wider improvement works already approved.

Updates on the works will be issued throughout the project, with the completion date expected by Spring of 2027. 

Gerald Kelly, the cabinet member for Governance and Regulatory at West Suffolk Council, said: “I am delighted that the council has secured this funding, it was a competitive process where only the best designed projects that presented value for money metrics were successful.

“It is testament to the council and partners on our drive to create environmental resilience and thriving communities across the district.”

Warren Smyth, the chief executive officer at Abbeycroft, added: “This is a very positive announcement which aligns with our ambition to reduce the organisational impact on the environment and we’re pleased to support the decarbonisation project at both Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill.”