Council grant helps local community centre cut costs with solar panel installation

29 May 2025

A council-backed funding scheme to modernise and decarbonise local infrastructure has helped local communities and organisations in reducing carbon emissions and increasing their energy efficiency.

The Anselm Community Centre in Bury St Edmunds, was one of 29 community groups that submitted their expressions of interest for funding from the Decarbonisation Initiatives Fund (DIF), an initiative to support community buildings in West Suffolk to reduce their use of carbon and address the climate emergency.

The proposal for the community centre included the installation of a 10.68kWp roof mounted solar panels projected to generate around 9,600kWh of renewable energy annually, cutting an estimated two tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

The resulting savings will enable the centre to keep hall hire charges down, thereby helping those who use the centre for activities such as martial arts, pulmonary rehab and Families Together Suffolk.

From a share of the DIF funding of over £200,000, deliverable projects received a share of the available grant, with the community groups contributing to their own decarbonising projects. 

Richard Mortlock, Secretary and Treasurer of the Mildenhall Road Estate Community Association, said: “Some years ago the Trustees of the Charity that is the Mildenhall Road Estate Community Association, who deal with the administration of the Anselm Community Centre, investigated the possibility of installing solar panels on the roof of the centre. 

“After much deliberation and research, Bury St Edmunds Town Council and West Suffolk Council agreed to provide grants for the project amounting to approximately 40% of the total cost. West Suffolk Council also helped with providing details of approved installers and the work was carried out last winter, December 2024, much to our satisfaction. Over the last two months records have been kept of electricity usage and the decrease is evident. In March 2024, the monthly bill for electricity was £292 and in March 2025 it was £93, with a similar amount of hirer use and same unit rates.

“We estimate that, with the help of the grants, the installation will pay for itself in about three to four years. In addition, as the electricity cost is the major expense in running the centre, the reduction in price enables us to keep the hire costs down, which encourages and helps local groups when using the centre.”

Cllr Gerald Kelly, Cabinet Member for Governance, Regulatory and Environment at West Suffolk Council, said: “The Decarbonisation Initiatives Fund is all about empowering communities to be part of the climate solution. By supporting facilities like the Anselm Community Centre, we’re helping to pave the way for thriving communities to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate changes, whilst helping reduce operational costs in the long term.

“By targeting buildings at the heart of local communities, the fund ensures that the environmental and financial benefits of decarbonisation are felt widely within the district.”

Cllr Diane Hind, Mayor of Bury St Edmunds and district ward member, said: “As town councillors, my colleague Cllr Marlyn Sayer and I provided funding from the town council locality budgets, then in my role as a district councillor, I helped the community centre with their application for the Decarbonisation Initiatives Fund.

“The Mildenhall Road Estate Community Association has wanted to install solar panels for many years, but it hasn’t been possible in the past. However, since the installation of the solar panels, the centre is now able to enjoy lower bills and enable them to freeze hiring costs. The centre is in use most days by many groups and organisations, so it is fantastic for the community.”

Examples of other projects that have used the DIF to decarbonise community assets include converting floodlights on sports fields to light-emitting diode lanterns (LED), and community transport schemes requiring capital investment to reduce the number of private car journeys.

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