Issue - meetings

Community Municipal Investment

Meeting: 21/07/2021 - Executive Committee (Item 9)

9 Community Municipal Investment pdf icon PDF 525 KB

To consider the report of the Corporate Director Regeneration and Community Services.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Team Manager Regeneration Opportunities.

 

The Head of Regeneration provided a detailed overview of the report which sought approval to take forward Community Energy Investment as a financial instrument to fund low carbon energy generation infrastructure and technology to provide energy and heat to Blaenau Gwent residents and businesses.

 

The Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development welcomed the report and noted that this was the initial stage of the pilot and overtime further reports would be presented to inform the Executive how the programme was progressing. The Executive Member stated that one of the major costs to residents and businesses was energy and this pilot looked to reduce these overheads, therefore the investment in renewable energy and how energy was produced was key to the Authority. This was an excellent investment opportunity for residents and businesses and the Executive Member hoped that this project would secure energy savings going forward.

 

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and Option 1; namely - proceed with Launching a Community Bond:-

 

a)   Proceed with the SocialRes Project and work towards development of a Community Bond offer.

 

b)   This would include undertaking initial due diligence of the legal agreements and overall approach but funding was available through abundance in order to carry out the required evaluation

 

c)   By pursuing Option 1 the Council would gain access to lower cost, financial investment to support with development of pipeline projects outlined in the Energy Prospectus 2019.

 

d)  This could be used to replace or alongside Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) funding. If the pilot was successful further bond offers could be considered in the future.