Darlington Borough Council leads the way in going green thanks to government grant

The council received £443,313 from the Heat Decarbonisation Scheme, which will allow them to make the two buildings more carbon efficient.

The planned work will see both the Town Hall and Hippodrome's gas boiler hot water system replaced with more efficient air source heat pumps.

The pumps work by absorbing heat from outside air to heat hot water and can work when air temperatures are as low as -15 degrees celsius.

The Town Hall will also have solar panels fitted and all lighting will be upgraded to LEDs.

For the theatre, new controls will be fitted in the loading bays to reduce heat loss and catering equipment will be upgraded.

The council have estimated that the project will save 870,000 kWhs of energy per year.

Heather Scott, Council Leader for Darlington Borough Council, said: "In our climate change agreement we pledged to concentrate on carbon efficiency for our own buildings and look at how we could change the way we work to help the environment.

“This grant means we can lead by example and show how changes to the way we all work can have a big impact on carbon emissions.

"We are committed to meeting the targets in the climate change agreement and would urge everyone to work together to do what they can to reduce our impact on the environment.”