Plans for 144 solar panels on the roof of Buxton Leisure Centre

The council has submitted plans for the installation of 144 solar panels on the roof of the leisure centre building on St John’s Road.

There will also be an installation of a plant room and evaporator decks on the ground floor of the multi-storey car park, with pipework between the plant and leisure centre main building.

It was announced in early spring High Peak Borough Council had secured £1,281,500 from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and would be supplementing this grant with a further £175,000 from Council funds to make sustainable changes across the borough.

Rob Wilks, Head of Service Commissioning at the Council, said: "The Council is delighted to have secured this substantial grant to decarbonise these facilities in Buxton as we work towards driving down emissions at all our leisure facilities across the Borough to help meet our net zero commitments.

"This project will really be a game changer and we are looking forward to seeing the positive impact it will have when it's completed early next year."

As well as the solar panels the leisure centre will replace the conventional gas boilers with state-of-the-art air source heat pumps to enhance the building's energy efficiency and reduce its impact on the environment saving around 200 tonnes of CO2 every year.

You can have your say on the council’s new plans via High Peak Borough Council’s planning website until October, 19 and a decision is expected to be made on the proposal in November.