Liberal Democrat welcome for Council Investigation of Coal Mine Heat

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The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Opposition Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed a recent report to the Overview and Scrutiny Board (11 October 16) which confirms that Oldham Council will be supporting a bid for money to investigate the possibility of tapping heat from disused coal mines.

Councillor Sykes said: “Exactly two years ago in full Council I asked the then Leader of the Council to commission a study with the other Leaders of the Greater Manchester authorities to explore the potential of this power source across the county.”

“I first became aware of that geothermic energy might be a viable possibility in Oldham when I read about the exciting plans in Scotland.”

In late 2013, the Scottish Government published a study that identified that as much as a third of the heat needed to keep Scotland warm could be provided by tapping geothermal energy from old coal mines across the central belt.

In Council, Councillor Sykes pointed out at the time that the Oldham borough shares a rich coal mining heritage and that the many former coal mines may give off residual ground-source heat that could form part of the borough’s renewable energy strategy.

Oldham Council has just agreed that this possibility is worth investigating. The Council will be supporting a bid to Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Institute) for £200K of funding to carry out feasibility work to look at the potential of ground source heat from disused coal mines to supply district heat networks.

Councillor Sykes added: “Although it has taken two years, I am pleased that the Council has finally decided to take forward my suggestion. Let us hope that this leads to some concrete proposals that will help make Oldham a greener borough.”

Link to report (see section 2.9): http://committees.oldham.gov.uk/documents/s73866/OS%20October%2016%20-%20Climate%20change%20and%20Brexit.pdf

Copy of my question: Council 22 Oct 14 – Leader Question 3: Geothermic Heat

My final question concerns geothermic heat; that is heat sourced from below ground to heat homes.  Let us be clear from the outset – I am not referring to fracking.

The Times reported recently that a 350-million year old volcano located deep beneath Stoke-on-Trent could help to heat more than a thousand homes.  On reading this article I naturally checked the facts as my first thought was that this must be a late-running April Fools’ Day joke.

But no; Stoke-on-Trent City Council has prepared a business case to drill a 2.5km borehole to an aquifer in which the water is heated naturally to at least 85C (185F). This heat would be transferred to the surface to heat homes and the Government has pledged £20million to fund it.  This got me thinking.

It is unlikely that Oldham sits on an ancient volcano, but we do have a rich coal mining heritage (as those amongst you who have seen the 19th Century photographic panorama of the town centre in Gallery Oldham will know).

So I wondered do former coal mines give off residual ground-source heat which we could possibly utilise as part of the borough’s renewable energy strategy?  And guess what they DO….  The Herald in Scotland reported in November 2013 that:

“As much as a third of the heat needed to keep Scotland warm could be provided by tapping geothermal energy from old coal mines across the central belt, a major new study for the Scottish Government has concluded.

“Warm water piped up from abandoned mine shafts between Glasgow and Edinburgh and in Ayrshire and Fife could help heat many thousands of homes and other buildings for decades, researchers said. They are urging ministers to embark on an ambitious attempt to make geothermal energy a major new source of clean, renewable power within a few years”.

As Oldham is far from unique in historically sourcing power from coal, would the Leader be agreeable to looking to commission with the other Leaders of the Greater Manchester Authorities a study of the potential of this power source across our county?

TfGM response to my most recent letter regarding reductions and changes in 181, 182 and 59 bus services

14974633459_2c3f4820ffDetails: 181, 182 and 59 Bus TfGM response to my recent letter

As these are all commercial services delivered by First Bus there is little TfGM can do – see above letter.

I will continue to speak out to maintain these and other services so those without cars or those who cannot walk to the tram stop can make the journeys they need when they need.

408 Bus service – response to me raising no service between 2.15pm – 16.02pm

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Good Morning Councillor Sykes,

I have had discussions with Rosso regarding the afternoon peak gap on service 408 (1415 to 1602 from Oldham towards Shaw).

At the moment they don’t have a bus available to provide an additional journey but I am aware of plans to make some revisions to the local school bus network which could potentially free up a vehicle at approximately 1535 in Oldham.

Rosso have provided a price to provide an additional journey but given that this would require an extra bus it would be difficult to justify.

I’d like to see where we get to with the potential school bus changes – if this is a possibility, and as we’d be using existing resources the price would be likely to be much lower.

Regards – Nick O’Neill, Service Planning Officer, Transport for Greater Manchester, 2 Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1 3BG.  Direct Line 0161 244 1580.  Office Fax 0161 244 1310

Poowatch progress report requested

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Recent press cutting from LGA First : First Magazine – LGA

Mrs Helen Lockwood, Executive Director Economy, Skills & Neighbourhoods, Mrs Carol Brown, Assistant Executive Director – Environment

Dear Mrs Lockwood & Mrs Brown,

I am sure you will recall that I wrote to you in December 2015 about Poowatch, a free web app for smartphones, tablets and personal computers.

Poo Watch was launched in November 2015 in Worcester to help clean up the city’s streets and to shame irresponsible dog-owners to clear up after their pets. There has recently been further positive publicity in the local government press – attached – and I still believe this technology could be of great use in helping Oldham Council tackle this blight in our borough, particularly in hot spots such as Dunwood Park in my own ward.

To reiterate the contents of my first letter, through the Poowatch app, Worcester residents can record any dog litter they spot in the city. The information they provide will help identify dog litter hotspots so action can be targeted in areas of greatest need.

The good thing with this approach is that the public can be the Council’s eyes and ears in the community, and they are reporting real incidents in real time to enable prompt action to be taken. This app gives residents the ability to help change the behaviour of irresponsible dog owners and to contribute to both a more co-operative and a cleaner borough.

The new web app has been jointly developed by the Safer Worcester Partnership, the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust (DWT) and Worcester City Council with funding from West Mercia’s Police and Crime Commissioner. It is free to access and uses GPS locaters to provide a simple and easy way for people to report dog mess and will help create an interactive map of the city showing the worst affected areas. It also shows the nearest poo bin to the location of the person accessing the app.

As this is free there is no deterrent to residents who are tech savvy from accessing it and using it. As you will know from complaints relayed to you, Councillors are constantly approached by constituents who are enraged by seeing dog poo on our pavements and who demand real action now. Poowatch allows them to be part of that action and make a difference rather than simply registering a complaint.

I would therefore like to ask you for an update as to where this authority is at in terms of introducing Poowatch to the Oldham Borough.

I have enclosed a recent article from First Magazine from the LGA.

I shall look forward to receiving your reply.

Yours sincerely

Howard Sykes

CC Cllr Fida Hussain