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21
Oct
Jennyfields dropped from Harrogate heat network study
A feasibility study into a Harrogate heating network will no longer include Jennyfields as a priority area.
The network aims to deliver cheaper energy to Harrogate and initially earmarked Jennyfields, Bilton and Fairfax as the first areas to benefit from the project.
Harrogate Town Council secured a £39,943 grant from the government’s Great British Energy Community Fund to cover the costs of developing the plans, which would connect homes to a central heating source via insulated pipes underground.
However, a report before the town council’s finance and general purposes committee last week revealed that Jennyfields would no longer be part of a feasibility study into the plans.
The move comes after Bilton was also removed as a priority area in August due to a lack of housing density and "technical challenges" caused by the railway line in the area.
According to the report, a lack of engagement from Harrogate Hydro and David Lloyd Clubs led to Buro Happold, a consultancy firm which is carrying out the study, to recommend the Jennyfields area be removed.
It said:
Given the lack of engagement from David Lloyd and The Hydro, limited domestic connections and electricity supply constraints, the contractor recommends screening out Jennyfields from the study.
Instead, the study intends to focus on the Fairfax area which includes engagement with Harrogate District Hospital and an unnamed “prominent local company”.
The report said:
The contractor proposes instead progressing discussions with Harrogate District Hospital and the prominent local company, both of which have the capacity and interest to explore the development of a heat network.
Cllr Chris Aldred, who is a proponent of the scheme and chair of the heat network working group, told last week’s meeting that, despite the loss of the area, the contractor intends to meet its December deadline for the feasibility study.
He said:
It is progressing. It is down to one area, but that is probably unsurprising. But I think we are fairly confident of meeting the target of having a report back at the end of December.
Cllr Aldred added that Fairfax represented a large set of households, with around 630 homes which could benefit from the heat network.
A district heating network connects users to a central heating source via insulated pipes underground.
The idea is to provide cheaper energy to a specific geographical area.
The council has until December 31, 2026, to complete the feasibility study into the network.
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