1. Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral Garry Charnock – Ashton Hayes Parish Council, Chester

2. Ashton Hayes - Background 1000 people 350 houses We are aiming to be England’s first carbon neutral village

3. Our objectives A grass-roots project that will help people to take low/no-cost actions that can save money while cutting carbon dioxide emissions To share our experiences with like-minded communities

4. Project launch 26th January Freezing night 400 people attended 75% of adult population

5. Community support – the catalyst Primary school involvement Energy Saving Trust (EPPLUS) Local business sponsors give £3500 Women’s Institute Chester University UEA Cred team Chester City Council Chester County Council

6. Launch night activity at the school

7. Press coverage – a key motivation BBC NW Tonight Granada ‘Party People’ BBC Radio 4 BBC World Service (20M) Chester Chronicle articles Dee 106.3 Radio regular feature Local & national newspapers The Guardian G2 Cheshire Life magazine NW Renewables film NALC newsletter WI national newsletter Kate Simms, BBC NW Tonight

9. Children – the other key motivators

10. Chester University - verification

11. Baseline survey May/June 2006 6-week door to door survey Survey developed through collaboration between the Universities of Chester, East Anglia (UEA) and the EST/EPPLUS teams Focuses on household efficiency and lifestyle Has key questions for Parish Plan

12. Tree planting and biodiversity

13. GIS mapping

14. What’s happening? Our rubbish is being weighed each month and we have topped the local recycling league for 3 months (28%) We are installing solar panels and wind turbines on the school and houses and planning demonstrations We have the enthusiastic support of the school and other organisations including Chester City and County We are seen as a ‘pilot’ small community for the UK and our website is quoted widely. Our methodology will be used We are making a toolbox and giving direct help to villagers

15. Solar thermal panel installation

16. Sharing our experience Invited to share experiences in: – Stratford upon Avon – Hay on Wye (Brilley) – Gloucester – Chew Magna – Wirral – Kelsall – Blacon

17. Future possibilities Estate agent Legat Owen allocating 6000 trees PWC offering free verified audit of our public buildings BP expressed an interest in ‘adopting’ the village EA Technologies assessing the options for a technology test bed Cheshire CC funding EA scoping study Seeking DEFRA grant funding for our toolkit

18. Recording our progress

19. For further information www.goingcarbonneutral.com