A sports centre renovation project to reduce its carbon emissions and running costs is expected to cost taxpayers an extra £330,000 despite that figure being less than initially expected.

The Weald Sports Centre in Cranbrook is set to be renovated to reduce its carbon footprint in a scheme partly funded by government loans.

Due to potential delays because of energy infrastructure upgrades, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has had to make available another £330,400, now taking its total contribution to £570,200.

This is an addition to the £239,800 funding already committed but the latest injection is some £160,000 less than the council's previously anticipated extra contribution of £490,000.

The local authority’s bid to fund the installation of solar panels, Air Source Heat Pumps, LED lights and an energy management system in the Cranbrook sports centre was approved in April 2022.

The renovations are set to reduce overall energy costs for running the leisure centre in Angley Road.

SALIX - a government body which offers interest free loans to public sector organisations - agreed to lend TWBC almost £1.2m for the project.

The council has already agreed to spending £239,800 of its own capital budget for the decarbonisation work.

However, since the initial bid, there have been issues with UK Power Networks (UKPN) - which distributes energy in Kent.

UKPN told the council in September that the infrastructure upgrades needed to support the additions to the leisure centre would cost much more and take longer than originally expected.

The company said it had also been asked to perform other work on energy infrastructure in the area, potentially delaying upgrades necessary for the Weald Sports Centre renovation.

This has prompted TWBC to make available the extra cash for the required infrastructure upgrades.

The injection was required in order for the council's funding bid with SALIX to continue as it demands projects it funds do not proceed "at risk" of delays, and operates during each financial year.

The council can only use funding from the SALIX loan for work paid for before the end of the financial year – March 2023.

If the local authority didn’t make new funding available they would have had to choose to abort the project - at a predicted cost of £10,000-£50,000, or to proceed without making the additional funding available, likely missing the SALIX deadline and having to provide £1.7m for the whole project itself.

At a previous meeting of the Finance and Governance advisory board on October 11, former leader Cllr Tom Dawlings (Con, Benenden and Cranbrook) supported the allocation of extra money.

“The council when I was leader put a very very high priority on reducing our carbon emissions," he said.

“I think it would be foolish to forgo the government funding that we managed to bid for successfully."

Cllr Hugo Pound (Lab) concurred, saying: “We would be mad to do otherwise.”

Like many other Kent councils, TWBC declared a “climate and biodiversity emergency” in 2019, supported by all political groups, and committed to further efforts to make their buildings and services carbon neutral by 2030.

The Weald Sports Centre is the third biggest producer of carbon owned by the council, contributing 12% of its total carbon use, according to council figures.

A review carried out by the council found Tunbridge Wells Sea Cadets is the biggest contributor to the authority's carbon emissions while the Town Hall is second.

'There are a lot of organisations that will be jealous of this and would love to be able to make that reduction'

The council predicts the decarbonisation project would bring the Weald Sports Centre’s carbon use down to about 5% of the council’s total.

At the Finance and Governance advisory board meeting earlier this month, Cllr Luke Everitt (Lab), cabinet member for environmental matters, told of the significance of the reduction.

“I know there are a lot of organisations that will be jealous of this and would love to be able to make that reduction in one single project,” he said.

“This will be a significant step towards our widely supported and ambitious goal of being carbon neutral as an authority by 2030.”

Cllr Ben Chapelard (Lib Dem), leader of the council, told the cabinet: “Whilst we’d want it [emissions reduction] to be more, it’s really good news.

“We’re cutting it by 7%, which is fantastic”

The council’s cabinet voted to approve the new funding at a meeting last night on October 27.