News - Page 7
Minibus Driver Training For Road Safety
Upskilling minibus drivers with the gold standard of training. First and Last Mile CIC were awarded a grant of £500 from our Community Grant Fund towards the cost of refreshed teacher training for Minibus driving. The challenge First and Last Mile CIC, a community transport group in West Oxfordshire, provides the gold-standard CTA MiDAS (Minibus […]
Improvements to Osney Lock Hydro visitor experience
A digital display helps inform visitors at community-owned hydro. West Oxford Community Renewables (WoCORE) received a grant of £500 from Low Carbon Hub’s Community Grant Fund to install a digital display and new signage at this landmark community hydro in central Oxford. The challenge Osney Lock Hydro is a popular site for learning about renewable […]
Inspiring the Next Generation on Community Energy
Creating information materials to engage young people on climate action and community energy. Westmill Sustainable Energy Trust (WeSET) received a grant of £1,500 from Low Carbon Hub’s Community Grant Fund to help engage young people in renewable energy and climate action. The challenge With increasing events and school visits, the WeSET education officer needed engaging, […]
Salt Cross examination - an important week for net-zero standards in new developments
What’s Happening at Salt Cross? Many local residents will be aware that Salt Cross is a proposed garden village, consisting of 2,200 homes and employment space, and located north of the A40 across from Eynsham. To guide this major development, West Oxfordshire District Council created a strong and ambitious planning policy, known as Policy 2 […]
Year two of CAPZero implementation begins - so how did we do in year one?
Our Community Action Plan for Zero-Carbon Energy (CAPZero) is the first of its kind in the UK. It models how a cluster of communities in West Oxfordshire can create a zero-carbon energy system in their local area, in a way that benefits everyone. It is a plan developed by community representatives together with energy system […]
Community Benefit Increased for Botley West, but is it enough?
In a significant step forward, the developers of the proposed Botley West Solar Farm have more than doubled their community benefit funding, from £200,000 a year to £440,000 per year. This increase follows sustained local pressure, vocal advocacy and the success of our Make Botley West Fair campaign. While it is a clear improvement on […]
Low Carbon Hub Community Grants Fund 2024 - 2025
It takes commitment, creativity, and hard work to run a thriving community group, but it’s inspiring and rewarding to witness the breadth of exciting events and programmes created by our community groups to reduce the effects of climate change. Low Carbon Hub’s vibrant community groups are at the heart of our work, and we are […]
Sandford Hydro gets an upgrade
Upgrades to our pioneering Sandford Hydro installation have increased its generation by over 17% in 2024/25. To address reduced generation during periods of low river flow when the screws cannot operate, we have covered the whole south-facing part of the plant in solar PV panels. This ensures the site can generate clean energy even when […]
Why we are using LETI as the standard for low carbon housing
If we’re serious about cutting carbon emissions from our homes, we need a clear plan for building better. That means well-insulated houses that use clean energy – without being ridiculously expensive or difficult to build. There are different ways to set standards for this, but not all of them work well in the real world.
Community Energy – Challenges and Solutions Event
Community groups are taking the lead by putting people at the heart of their vision for a just energy transition, exploring options to develop community scale energy projects that benefit everyone in their area. This year community energy has been a particular focus for four of our community groups who have successfully applied for grant […]
Blenheim: A legacy of leadership
Our Make Botley West Solar Farm Fair campaign is urging Blenheim Estate, the principal land owner of the proposed Botley West Solar Farm, one of the UK’s largest planned solar developments, to use their influence to push for a fairer community benefit deal from the project developers. In a public document and open letter that […]
Why Botley West matters to the whole UK
Our Make Botley West Solar Farm Fair campaign is focused on ensuring that the UK’s largest proposed solar farm delivers real and lasting benefits to the local communities that will host it. But this isn’t just an Oxfordshire issue, it’s a national one. Across the UK, many more large-scale solar developments are in the pipeline. […]