While local authorities in Lincolnshire have been vocal in opposition to the spread of solar farms, they seem to be slow on the uptake of using the renewable energy on their own buildings.
Of the 82 non-residential properties South Holland District Council owns, only one has solar panels on site.
The authority also has 4,960 residential homes of which 282 have solar panels (5.7 per cent). Of those, around half (138) were due to successful applications by tenants for the governments Home Upgrades Grant, which has been running since 2022.
A South Holland District Council spokesman said: “South Holland District Council has recently agreed a Carbon Reduction Plan which contains a recommendation to conduct a solar PV feasibility study for its owned sites to assess opportunity to generate own electricity from renewables.
“This is something that will be reviewed as part of the action plan currently in development.
“Electricity emissions from SHDC owned and operated assets account for only around three per cent of South Holland District Council’s carbon footprint.
“In relation to tenanted properties, we continue to improve the energy efficiency in homes with a targeted programme, prioritising the least efficient properties with a focus on all homes achieving an EPC grade C by 2030 (regulations set by central government).
“This includes a variety of works including external wall insulation, air source heating and solar panels. Our programme has improved the energy efficiency of 429 homes to date and a programme of £11.4m of works committed for the next three years.
“The council is currently drafting an Asset Management Strategy which will set out our commitment to delivering energy efficiency improvements and responding to climate change, of which we will be consulting tenants on during 2025/26.”
It follows a Freedom Of Information request made by The Voice which was also sent to Lincolnshire County Council.
The county authority initially responded before the recent election saying it didn’t have the information it was asked for, but when challenged, it listed the request as a new application to be dealt with in 28 days.
When it did respond, the council said it owns 467 freehold properties, which doesn’t include the schools and highways land it owns.
Of the 467, a total of 71 (15 per cent) have solar panels fitted.
Lincolnshire County Council was approached for a comment but nothing was received at the time of going to press.
