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The first connection to the heat network started this week, 12 September, on Cage Hill. Contractors will be installing the pipework necessary to connect the heat network in the main road up to the customers property. Once this is completed they will start on the internal works. We are really looking forward to connecting the first homes to the heat network and will keep everyone updated through this newsletter and via the local Swaffham Prior Noticeboard on Facebook.
We are pleased to announce that the laying of the main Heat Network pipes in the streets of Swaffham Prior is now complete. This is great news. We now are working to connect homes to the heat network across the village so there will still be streetworks taking place in the village. We will start to contact customers in the next few weeks with a proposed timescale of when they will be connected and will start to receive heat. We sincerely apologise for the delay in getting these dates to you and know some of you have been worried about the amount of oil you have left in your tank. This project is the first of its kind in the Country and we need to make sure we get this right for all our customers. The construction industry across the UK is managing challenges such as impacts on supply chains from the Ukraine war. This is the same for this project. Our work is to ensure the connections and heat provided are to the highest standards.
Customers will receive a pre-installation survey from a heating engineer and a final connection route and location of the Heat Interface Unit will be issued to you to sign off. As this is a community scheme that is being funded by public money, we need to make sure we find the most efficient and affordable routes for the pipework and ask for your support in this endeavour.
This means, for some properties, a shared pipework route is installed from the road and branching off to neighbouring properties, similar to other utilities such as water, electricity etc. These opportunities will need to be discussed with you for agreement to make the best use of the budget for this project. Like everyone, the project is also feeling the impact of inflation.
We may also contact your neighbours who have not signed up to see if they are interested in connecting in the future and undertake some forward planning. For example, none of us want a road or pathway dug twice when once will do, so we are keen on forward planning on shared connections. We will do this in full consultation with you.
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Cambridgeshire County Council has appointed two new members to its team working on Swaffham Prior Heat Network project. Coordinating the end customer connections with you and installers will require a lot of management.
Tom Duckmanton will be project managing the Swaffham Prior projects of which one area of responsibility will be connections to properties. He comes with extensive complex project management experience including on highway projects such as HS2 and is a civil engineer by background.
Penda Jack will be managing the communication with customers on their connections to the heat network. Pend is experienced in customer services.
They started last week and are quickly getting up to speed.
This is a reminder that the variable and standing charges will increase from 1 January 2023 based on the published October CPI. The benefit of being on the scheme is that the price only changes once a year and customers are locked into the price for the full 12 months.
We appreciate customers are concerned because of the current market price increases. Although the October CPI is published mid-November, we have asked our finance team to assess the current CPI for both the Variable Charge and Standing Charge alongside the guidance from government on price caps. We have started this review, to complete in good time to share this with the Swaffham Prior Community Land Trust and you ahead of Mid-November.
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