 Planners
at Powys County Council have won a prestigious award for their determination
to develop sustainable energy in mid Wales.
The authority recently won the St George Award for Planning for Sustainability
at the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Planning Awards 2002. The
award recognises how the Council addressed the climate change issues at
the local level and their action to develop sustainable energy.
The authority is responsible with working with other bodies to establish
the Powys Renewable Energy Partnership which now includes Powys Energy
Agency, Ecodyfi, the Welsh Development Agency and Wales OPET Cymru with
the Forestry Commission now closely involved in the developments taking
place.
Powys Energy Agency and Ecodyfi were both started by the authority, which
laid down the early foundations and gained funding to further develop
sustainable energy methods.
Powys County Council Cllr John Thompson, chairman of Powys Energy Board
and portfolio member, said: "I felt very honoured and proud to receive
this award on behalf of Powys County Council. This award shows that we
are moving in the right direction in protecting the environment and that
we are now firmly established on the sustainability map.
"I would like to pay tribute to all the staff for their dedication and
hard work behind these schemes and making this award possible."
John Billingham, Chairman of the RTPI Judging Panel said: "We see this
project by the Dyfi Eco Valley Partnership as a practical expression of
achieving an energy-conscious society at a local level, which is going
to make a real difference to the way we source and use energy.
"It has many lessons for similar rural communities elsewhere, as well
as those in deprived urban areas. Such projects represent a major force
for changing the way we use scarce energy sources locally, and with important
implications for the wider world in which we live."
Powys County Council became the first authority in the UK to join the
European Community's Renewable Energy Partnership in July 2001 and won
the EU's 'Campaign for Take Off' (CTO) "100% Communities Rural" CTO Award
which Andy Rowland of Ecodyfi picked up the award on behalf of the agency
in Salamanca, Spain last year.
Notes for Editors
Photo (Front Row l-r) Chairman of Powys County Council, Cllr Gwilym Evans;
Chairman of Powys Energy Board Cllr John Thompson; Middle Row (l-r) Karen
Latham of the Welsh Development Agency; Andy Rowland of Ecodyfi; Dilwyn
Pearce of Powys Energy Agency; Back Row (l-r) Cllr David Evans; Sally
Tansey of the Forestry Commission; Andy Bull, Principle Policy Officer
(Countryside Services).
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