Plans to make Dorchester's public parks more eco-friendly
Solar panels and air source heat pumps could be brought in
Solar panels and air source heat pumps could soon help keep Dorchester’s public parks blooming in the future.
The Town Council is planning to add them to the Borough Gardens House and an adjoining potting shed, along with a greenhouse at the southern corner of the Gardens.
Energy they produce will help keep bills down and provide warmth for the glasshouse which is used to bring on thousands of plants each year.
Twenty-six solar panels have been applied for on four roof areas of the Borough Gardens House, with public comments on the planning proposals open until December 1st.
The changes are part of the town council’s green strategy which has already seen it swap petrol and diesel-powered machines for electric powered devices and vehicles and add solar panels to several of the buildings it owns.
They've also installed water boreholes in the Borough Gardens and Weymouth Avenue recreation ground to keep water bills down, and installed a bio-mass boiler in the Corn Exchange.
The solar panels and heat pumps will provide power for the leased first floor residential flat at the Borough Gardens House as well as for the ground floor community room, available for hire, and a basement used for storage.
An additional pump will be added to a potting shed which is, in turn, attached to a greenhouse immediately behind the house.
The town council estimates that the solar panels should produce up to 10,400kw hours of power each year, more than half of the building’s requirements with the air source air pumps making an additional contribution by reducing the amount of kilowatt hours needed to heat the house rooms and the adjoining greenhouses.