Colchester Borough Homes continues extensive programme of works across council’s facilities

Date issued: 24 November 2019

Following the recent declaration of a Climate Emergency by Colchester Borough Council, work to maintain and modernise the operational and heritage estate continues – focusing on sustainability, reduction of carbon emissions and placemaking.

Working closely with Colchester Amphora Trading Limited’s (CATL’s) Estates team, Colchester Borough Homes (CBH) continues to provide this comprehensive property maintenance and repair service across the council’s assets.

Projects include the following:

• Replacement heating boilers at Colchester Town Hall: Currently underway on site and due for completion by mid-October 2019. The project delivers the replacement of the existing 20-year-old heating plant with new high-efficiency gas-fired condensing boilers. This will reduce Town Hall heating plant CO2 emissions by around 15% and save approximately 100,000 kWh energy per annum.
• Replacement lighting in St. Mary’s & St. John’s Car Parks: This upcoming installation, taking place in 2020, comprises the replacement of all existing fluorescent lighting within St Mary’s and St John’s car parks with LED lighting which is both more energy efficient and gives a better quality of light, improving both the lighting levels and general ambience within the car parks. The estimated total CO2 emission saving will be close to 100 tonnes per year.
• Heritage Highlighted: Delivering architectural LED lighting to the Roman Wall on Balkerne Hill and Colchester Castle, with initial works commencing in October 2019 and complete by Christmas.

Dirk Paterson, Chair of the CBH Board, commented: “Colchester Borough Homes, as part of the wider council team, is committed to continuously delivering high standards of maintenance for the Borough’s assets. Working closely with Colchester Borough Council and CATL, the CBH team ensures that the estate and assets are maintained safely, sustainably and compliantly. We look forward to supporting the council for years to come.”

Colchester Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Resource, Cllr David King, commented on the ongoing programme of works: “It is essential we keep our estate up to scratch. We have a huge property portfolio, which provides great community facilities, including iconic buildings such as Colchester Castle and the Town Hall, and delivers a significant amount of income every year to keep our key services running. It is great we can now do even more to reduce our carbon footprint, in response to the climate emergency accepted by the council.”

Cllr Mark Cory, Leader of Colchester Borough Council added: “I am proud of this joint working by council teams. The refreshing and continued improvement of our facilities and assets is an extremely important priority, and I am constantly impressed with the dedication of the teams working across these projects to ensure the borough’s assets are well maintained for a Better Colchester.”