Funding boost of almost £3m to help shift north Northamptonshire towards net zero

An injection of almost £3m into north Northamptonshire will help launch a number of projects that will shift the area towards its net zero carbon goal.

A number of cutting-edge enterprises have been awarded a total of £2,852,726 in Government cash for initiatives, which include the development of local energy projects, delivering an app to monitor food waste and offering training and support to ex-offenders.

The funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities under the Community Renewal Fund will go to nine different projects and programmes.

Cllr David Brackenbury, North Northamptonshire Council’s executive member for growth and regeneration, said: “This is great news for north Northants - I’m absolutely delighted that we will receive this funding to help boost some key projects in the area.

“These are beneficial to creating employment opportunities and boosting the local economy and there is a strong focus on initiatives that are seeking clever low carbon solutions.”

The biggest winner in the round of funding is In2work, owned by London-based training academy Hills Bridge Services Ltd, with £758,080 given to for the 'delivery of training for rail sector / HS2' for 240 people.

North Northamptonshire to Net Zero (NN2NZ) - part of Electric Corby - has been awarded £550,157 for a programme of projects designed to provide 'feasibility studies into net zero and local energy projects and a framework to assess them, pilot an e-mobility hub, create a project website and deliver a showcase event'.

Green Recovery and Innovation programme will use £507,767 to deliver a package of business support for 100 small and medium businesses managed by SEMLEP (South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership) Growth Hub - the group funding the new GLaM extension to Kettering Library and the Alfred East Art Gallery.

With their £342,489, Knowledge Exchange for Better Business (KE4BB) (North Northamptonshire) will provide 30 'knowledge exchange vouchers' (£7,500), 15 funded graduate interns, 1:1 academic support and 50 development grants of £2,500 .

The Northamptonshire County Association of Local Councils (Northants CALC) will use the £281,625 for the Northamptonshire Devolution Project Parish Asset Mapping to provide funding to town/parish councils to map assets, services, functions and facilities to support bids for community funding and local devolution.

North Northamptonshire Council's Greenway and River Ise and Green Infrastructure Feasibility Study will use £122,400 to run two feasibility studies to identify green infrastructure connections linking Wellingborough to Rushden and Corby (via Kettering) so-called 'growth towns'. This will 'facilitate the development of green corridors', and wider network, for active travel, enhance travel to work choices and educational opportunities, and increase tourism and leisure trips.

Made in Northamptonshire will undertake two pilot projects with funding of £108,375 for the Sustainable Food Network North Northamptonshire. The two pilot projects will involve a rural food chain research and pilot two waste food apps and a sustainability audit.

The Skill Mill will use £91,800 to provide employment opportunities in water and land-based management. Training and support will be delivered to ex-offenders, actively reducing reoffending whilst increasing engagement, participation, employability and educational levels of the young people to increase their life chances. Participants will undertake accredited training and achieve a nationally recognised qualification

Finally North Northamptonshire Council will receive £90,033 for their Construction Skills Programme, the delivery of construction training to 50 people.

Cllr Harriet Pentland, the council’s executive member for climate and the green environment, said: “With the COP26 conference taking place at the moment, it’s clear that combatting the effects of climate change and protecting the environment is a significant piece of work for all of us.

“I’m delighted that this has been recognised in the funding from the Government for these innovative projects right here in north Northamptonshire and goes to show how everyone’s focus is now fixed on reducing carbon emissions.”