Council urges action on renewables

12.00.00am GMT Thu 29th Jan 2009

Leeds City Council is putting pressure on the government to remove the barriers preventing households adopting renewable energy measures.

The council yesterday voted through a motion from Liberal Democrat Councillor James Monaghan (Headingley) calling for the government to create tax breaks for people who install renewable energy technology such as wind turbines and solar panels in their homes.

The council will now write to the government urging it to take these measures. Leeds MPs are being encouraged to make similar representations.

Cllr James Monaghan (Lib Dem, Headingley) said:

"The single biggest reason for the low take up of small scale renewable energy is the cost of installing it.

"It typically costs more than £1500 to put up a small wind turbine and the government will give you a grant of 30% towards it. But the amount of time it will take to recoup this in reduced energy bills is normally around a decade or longer. This is too long to be a serious incentive to most householders. "

Cllr Steve Smith (Lib Dem, Rothwell), Executive Member for Environment said:

"If the government needs inspiration it only need look across the Atlantic where the new president is aiming to stimulate economic growth by investing heavily in renewable energy.

"The technology is out there, but the government really needs to do more to get people using it."