The Low Carbon West Oxford group deserves huge congratulations for its project to pilot renewable energy in this part of the city.

The award of a £500,000 grant to fund its work is recognition of its creative and dynamic response to the floods of two years ago.

It is a prime example of the environmental call to arms: “Think globally, act locally.”

What makes the group’s proposals particularly inspiring is that it is a community initiative. It has come out of a desire to make something happen locally in an area that fears it is vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Its proposals to harness the space offered by large flat-roofed commercial buildings for solar power, to test out a modest-sized wind turbine and to install a water turbine on the River Thames at Osney Lock are small in global scale. However, if successful, they are schemes that can be repeated far and wide to make a global impact.

More than 300 community schemes applied for Government funding and Low Carbon West Oxford was one of only ten successful ones — a testament to the quality of the project.

The group says this is only the beginning. We hope they are right and we wish them well.