Houses should be 'zero-carbon' - residents protest in Wallingford

About 20 demonstrators held banners at the Highcroft site which is being developed by the Berkeley Group.

They included Dr Sue Roberts, Deputy to the Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council and its cabinet member for climate and ecological crisis response.

They also included Wallingford town councillor Katherine Keats-Rohan, and Ginnie Herbert from Cholsey parish council.

Read more: Oxfordshire mum calls for free buses for children

A protest spokesperson said Berkeley claims to be committed to tackling the Climate Emergency but continues to build houses heated by gas, predominantly a fossil fuel.

The developer plans to build 555 new houses on the site, over the next five years.

Two protestors had planned to sit peacefully in the site office until they could speak to the CEO of Berkeley. In the event, sales office staff locked the door having been told to make no comment to those protesting.

Dr Sue Roberts said: “The Government is phasing out gas boilers, so why have these new homes got out-of-date heating systems? These homes could and should be zero-carbon. With excellent insulation and heat pumps for heating, they would use barely any energy."

She continued: “It costs many thousands of pounds to retrofit gas-heated housing. Berkeley is building all-electric, energy-efficient estates elsewhere. Why not in Wallingford? Traditional housebuilders are continuing with business as usual, holding out as long as they can before government forces them to do the right thing.”

Revised building regulations are due later this year but will not apply to developments that are already underway.

“It is quite clear to our community that far more houses are being built in South Oxfordshire than are truly needed. This is to meet inflated housing targets that reward no-one but developers and landowners,” added Dr Roberts. “All new housing should be built to high environmental standards. Do it now, with an urgency that truly reflects the scale of threat that the world is facing.”

Cholsey householder Claire Bird, who took part in the protest, said the housebuilders should act now in response of the climate emergency.

“It’s action this decade that matters,” she said. “The decision makers at Berkeley likely have children and grandchildren who are currently facing a four-degree warmer planet; a planet capable of supporting perhaps only half of its current inhabitants. The reality of that needs to sink in for all of us. They must put the planet before profit and act now.”

After three hours on the site, the group left a letter with the sales office, written to Berkeley Group Chief Executive, to be passed on to him.

A spokesperson for St Edward, part of Berkeley Group, said: “At Highcroft St Edward has worked closely with South Oxfordshire District Council to design a sustainable neighbourhood that includes 18 acres of green open space, 1,000 newly planted trees and a network of natural habitats that support local wildlife, provide a biodiversity net gain and improve community wellbeing.

"The new homes, which received planning approval in phases between 2017 and 2021, are highly insulated and energy efficient. We anticipate using heat pumps, or other low carbon technologies, in future phases, subject to planning permission.

“Our wider sustainability strategy includes electric vehicle charging points, a network of walking and cycling routes to encourage active travel, sports pitches, four distinct plays spaces for local children, allotments, a sustainable drainage network and the creation on a new on site primary school which will help to reduce car use and serve the wider community.”

-

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok

Got a story for us? Send us your news and pictures here

List an event for free on our website here