Highbridge Community Hall could soon be partly powered by the sun if a new £8,000 project to cut the costs of running the facilities gets the go-ahead.
The group that operates the building in Market Street wants to install up to 16 solar panels on its roof to cut its energy bills and lower running costs.
The centre is seeking thousand of pounds of grant funding for the project from local councils.
Chairman Rosemary Parsons told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The hall is located in one of Sedgemoor’s most deprived areas – there’s not a lot of money about in the town and this project will help us to keep costs down and pass on the savings to users.”
She added: “We’ve had the scheme costed up to install 12-16 solar panels on the front apex of the building, and we’d like to go ahead this year if possible.”
Sedgemoor District Council’s Grants Award Sub Committee is currently considering the hall’s application for £2,000 of the total project cost. Charitable organisation Communities First in Highbridge has earmarked £1,700 to the project, while Burnham and Highbridge Town Council is also considering a grant of £1,000.
The project comes amid concerns that there may be increased competition in the future from other public meeting areas, such as the YMCA’s new facilities at the Highbridge Hotel, as we recently reported here.
