Introduction
Biggar Area Climate Care (BACC) secured funding from SLC’s Community Led Local Development Fund in the second half of 2022 and commissioned consultants, Scene Connect Ltd (Scene), to undertake a feasibility study.  The work began in the autumn and was completed by April 2023.
 
BACC initially identified the following three themes to explore in the path towards carbon-neutrality for the area. These formed the starting point for community engagement on climate issues:
  • Domestic energy reduction through home energy improvements and access to information on home-energy use.
  • The potential for sustainable transport measures considering the potential for electric vehicle hire, trip sharing and electric bikes.
  • Waste reduction and recycling driven by a reduction in food packaging and the introduction of a zero-waste refill hub in Biggar.
 
Scene  undertook a preliminary community meeting to explore these ideas further in November 2022. This was attended by 15 people. They then designed a community questionnaire which was disseminated mainly online through social media channels.  The survey received 86 responses. Following analysis of the results and further desk research Scene presented its final report. This document summarises the main findings of this report.
 
Context
BACC covers the ML126 area which includes the surrounding villages in S. Lanarkshire (Thankerton, Abington, Crawford, and including Dolphinton) and Scottish Borders (Skirling, Broughton).  The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (which ranks all local areas in Scotland against a range of social and economic statistical items) shows that the area is generally positive in relation to employment, health, income,  housing. The one exception, where the ranking falls in the lower end, is in geographic access: in other words the ability to get about easily/transport.
 
The community survey echoed this finding with nearly 45% of respondents saying they do not think the area is well served by public transport. However the majority of respondents also said they are not interested in a car share/car club scheme at present.  The survey asked about how efficient people thought their home energy was: not surprisingly the majority of people did not think their home was energy efficient.  The survey asked whether people would like to use a Refill Hub and 62% said they would use one (and during the course of this study The Orchard put in place a Refill Hub so hopefully it is being used).
  
Recommendations
The report set out a number of key recommendations as follows.
 
Energy
  • Provide information on accessibility to home retrofitting measures including access to expert advice and financial aids.
  • Provide education to empower individuals to take the steps required to upgrade their homes.
  • Use thermal imaging to show people where their homes are losing heat and support them to find appropriate solutions to improve energy performance.
Sustainable Transport
  • Liaise with service operators to improve public transport options.
  • Make non-motorised travel accessible for shorter trips.
  • Support the expansion of electric vehicle use.
Food Waste Reduction
  • Support existing refill hubs in the Biggar Area.
  • Further provision of community refill hubs in the greater Biggar Area where hubs do not already exist.
  • Support stronger links between local food producers and businesses.
  • Expansion of recycling facilities in the area
Community engagement
  • Continue to engage the communities within the Biggar Area through regular ‘Climate Conversations’ and mail updates.
 
The report recommended that a Project Development officer be appointed/hired to coordinate and enact the recommendations over the coming years.
 
Next Steps
BACC has received and considered the report and drawn up its own Three Year Action Plan with the following main actions:
  • Home energy efficiency project (which we have funding for over the next three years from the SSE Sustainable Development Fund) : priority for Year 1 onwards.
  • Establishing a regular Repair Café/possible Tool Library: priority for Year 1
  • Local connectedness/engagement: we recognise that a key part of bringing about change is to raise awareness and communicate widely and effectively: ongoing priority.
  • Active travel/transport/e-charging: potential to investigate further from Years 2 and 3 onwards
  • Community power ownership (for the longer term)

To read the feasibility study in full click here.