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Huddersfield Community EcoBuild Initiative Introduction
A major step forward with the project took place on 10th Aug 2010 when the water tank at the top of the building as inspected and discovered to be in better condition than anticipated. |
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Update 10th November 2010 - Neil Buxton It’s been rather slow until now, not least because we had to delay due to the installation of lifts at Huddersfield station. Things are starting to progress however and we now hope to begin conversion work early in the New Year. One of the more lengthy procedures has been transferring the lease from Network Rail to train operator First Transpennine – nobody’s fault particularly, just a labyrinthine process! As Transpennine are interested in additional parking space for their staff, the aim is for them to assume responsibility for the entire site, subsequently sub-leasing the building only to ACoRP – a win-win situation for everyone! To enable this transfer, we’re using ACoRP’s innovative tri-partite lease, designed especially for our Community Stations Initiative and constructed to deal with the complex inter-relationships between Network Rail, train operators and third parties (click here for more details). We’re close to finalising this lease and will soon have an interim access arrangement, enabling us to undertake basic internal assessments, preparation, clearing rubbish and so on. One unexpected issue has been the discovery of a crack in the cast-iron water tank. This is still Network Rail’s responsibility and they’ve agreed to provide the money to repair it – we’re currently seeking quotes from a specialist foundry company. Part of this package will also include laying a plastic membrane over the base of the tank and then covering it with a thin layer of specialised concrete, effectively weatherproofing the roof and providing a surface on which to secure the photo-voltaic (PV) cells. If there’s enough space, we hope to have sufficient PV cells to generate surplus power, which we can then sell to the grid – sustainability in action! The plastic layer also prevents the concrete making a fundamental and permanent change to the building, which is listed. The industry’s work on installing the station lifts has also highlighted the limited supply of electricity to the station overall, with the existing power supply to the water tower being temporarily diverted to operate the new lifts. Interestingly enough, ACoRP have also been able to help with this, as an element of the new power supply is considered to be part of our project and therefore eligible as match-funding. A new sub-station with sufficient supply is currently at the planning stage with Network Rail. So far, the financial aspects of this project have been the most difficult. Dealing with Europe is ultimately worthwhile but involves a considerable amount of paperwork and complicated calculation, including a constant reappraisal of exchange rates! The time delay of payments (sometimes as long as 9 months between expenditure and re-imbursement) also creates cashflow problems, which we are resolving by securing a loan from the Charity Bank – an organisation that specialises in enabling not-for-profit organisations to overcome such difficulties (www.charitybank.org ). It also helps to have someone allocated specifically to deal with this aspect of the project and I’m very grateful for the help of John Hummel, an ACoRP Board member, who is kindly devoting a considerable amount of his time to this! Another vital element is the Project Management Team – essentially a sub-committee of the main Board. This meets at approximately monthly intervals and consists of ACoRP’s General Manager, John French our specialist in European funding, our estates specialist Mick Stone and of course, our financial wizard, John Hummel. It simply wouldn’t be possible to progress without this expertise. |
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