Habitat improvements at Grantham’s Wyndham Park are the stage for a day of free activities helping everyone enjoy the nature on their doorstep.

Environment and conservation experts will be on hand at the award-winning location on Sunday 24 September, offering games, competitions, crafts, wildlife spotting and more.

All activities have been designed to show how easy and fun it is to get closer to nature – and play a part in protecting it.

The event marks the official unveiling of improvements to Wyndham’s Park’s natural habitat, and a 100m-stretch of the River Witham that flows through it.

Enhancements include an area of stepped decking enabling safe access to a shallow part of the river and new wetland habitat to attract rare species.

All were funded using fishing licence money from the Environment Agency, which is re-invested into rivers, helping to improve facilities for anglers, tackle illegal fishing and encourage more people to take up the sport.

The event will offer a chance to explore the changes to the park’s habitat, and discover how they benefit both visitors and wildlife.

Matt Parr, geomorphology technical specialist at the Environment Agency, said:

Few things beat the great outdoors but that doesn’t mean you have to escape into the wilderness. Natural wonders can be found right in the heart of your town.

We’ll be on hand to help you spot the opportunities, using the beauty of Wyndham Park – and our improvements to the river there – to show how easy and fun it is to get closer to nature.

Organisations taking part in the event include the Environment Agency, South Kesteven District Council, Lincolnshire Rivers Trust, Anglian Water and Rivercare.

It takes place from 12noon to 4.30pm on Sunday 24 September. The date coincides with World Rivers Day, a global celebration of rivers, their value to local communities and the importance of looking after them.

Atlantic salmon have been discovered on the River Ecclesbourne, a tributary of the River Derwent, Derbyshire for the first time since the Industrial Revolution following work carried out by the Environment Agency and its partners.

The discovery comes following the installation of fish passes on the River Derwent by the Environment Agency and Trent Rivers Trust which have helped to improve fish migration and allow the salmon to move upstream through the river.

The installation of fish passes is just one of a programme of actions carried out by the Environment Agency and its partners to remove barriers to migration and help restore salmon stocks throughout England.

Fisheries Specialist at the Environment Agency, Matt Buck, said:

Salmon is an important species and after two decades of work to improve water quality and the habitat for fish in the Trent catchment area, we now have a recovering population of salmon.

We are particularly excited to have found juvenile salmon in the Ecclesbourne for the first time in living memory, which indicates the success of salmon in this part of the river.

Poor water quality and weirs on the River Derwent constructed in the Industrial Revolution acted as a barrier to fish migration and left them stuck in unsuitable water. Weirs not only stop fish migrating, but trap fish spawning gravels and create ponded areas upstream which are not suitable for riverine fish species.

Over the past seven years, the Environment Agency has worked with partners and developers on the construction of fish passes on a number of weirs in the area. These passes have enabled adult salmon to swim freely further up the river, where they have access to more varied habitats providing suitable conditions to spawn, shelter and feed.

Matt continued:

Thanks to the work we have carried out with our partners, we are, for the first time ever, witnessing a recovering population of salmon on the River Derwent and other local rivers which is an excellent result. Last year we saw a record number of sightings of adult salmon, including a salmon found at Belper weir for the first time in over 100 years.

We are committed to ensuring that salmon numbers continue to increase within the catchment by working with partners to enable fish passage on the remaining barriers and to improve the quality of river habitats for this fascinating species. If salmon are thriving we know the river is doing well for all fish and wildlife.

Atlantic salmon have been discovered on the River Ecclesbourne, a tributary of the River Derwent, Derbyshire for the first time since the Industrial Revolution following work carried out by the Environment Agency and its partners.

The discovery comes following the installation of fish passes on the River Derwent by the Environment Agency and Trent Rivers Trust which have helped to improve fish migration and allow the salmon to move upstream through the river.

The installation of fish passes is just one of a programme of actions carried out by the Environment Agency and its partners to remove barriers to migration and help restore salmon stocks throughout England.

Fisheries Specialist at the Environment Agency, Matt Buck, said:

Salmon is an important species and after two decades of work to improve water quality and the habitat for fish in the Trent catchment area, we now have a recovering population of salmon.

We are particularly excited to have found juvenile salmon in the Ecclesbourne for the first time in living memory, which indicates the success of salmon in this part of the river.

Poor water quality and weirs on the River Derwent constructed in the Industrial Revolution acted as a barrier to fish migration and left them stuck in unsuitable water. Weirs not only stop fish migrating, but trap fish spawning gravels and create ponded areas upstream which are not suitable for riverine fish species.

Over the past seven years, the Environment Agency has worked with partners and developers on the construction of fish passes on a number of weirs in the area. These passes have enabled adult salmon to swim freely further up the river, where they have access to more varied habitats providing suitable conditions to spawn, shelter and feed.

Matt continued:

Thanks to the work we have carried out with our partners, we are, for the first time ever, witnessing a recovering population of salmon on the River Derwent and other local rivers which is an excellent result. Last year we saw a record number of sightings of adult salmon, including a salmon found at Belper weir for the first time in over 100 years.

We are committed to ensuring that salmon numbers continue to increase within the catchment by working with partners to enable fish passage on the remaining barriers and to improve the quality of river habitats for this fascinating species. If salmon are thriving we know the river is doing well for all fish and wildlife.

What are heat networks?

A heat network – sometimes called district heating – is a distribution system of insulated pipes that takes heat from a central source and delivers it to a number of domestic or non-domestic buildings. The heat source might be a facility that provides a dedicated supply to the heat network, such as a combined heat and power plant; or heat recovered from industry and urban infrastructure, canals and rivers, or energy from waste plants.

Find out more: What is a heat network?

Heat networks form an important part of our plan to reduce carbon and cut heating bills for customers (domestic and commercial). They are one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing carbon emissions from heating, and their efficiency and carbon-saving potential increases as they grow and connect to each other. They provide a unique opportunity to exploit larger scale – and often lower cost – renewable and recovered heat sources that otherwise cannot be used. It is estimated by the CCC that around 18% of UK heat will need to come from heat networks by 2050 if the UK is to meet its carbon targets cost effectively.

Available support

The Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU)

The Heat Networks Delivery Unit was established in 2013 to address the capacity and capability challenges which local authorities identified as barriers to heat network deployment in the UK. The Unit provides funding and specialist guidance to local authorities who are developing heat network projects.

Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP)

The Heat Networks Investment Project is delivering £320m of capital investment support to increase the volume of heat networks built, deliver carbon savings for carbon budgets, and help create the conditions for a sustainable market that can operate without direct government subsidy. The pilot phase of the Heat Networks Investment Project ran for six months and awarded £24m to nine successful Local Authority projects in March 2017.

Investing in heat networks

UK heat networks represent a significant investment opportunity across distribution, generation, storage, controls and customer interface.

A key challenge that has been identified to us by a number of Local Authorities is uncertainty over which third party investors are actively considering investment in the heat network sector. To help enable projects to contact investors we are publishing the list of investors that have contacted us and provided a 1-2 page summary of how they intend to invest in the sector. The pro-forma that has been completed by each investor is provided below.

Heat networks investor list: 2018 Q2

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 37.7KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.
Request an accessible format.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a
version of this document in a more accessible format, please email enquiries@beis.gov.uk.
Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

If you are interested in investing in the sector then please contact the Heat Network Delivery Unit, HNDU@beis.gov.uk, with a completed 1-2 page investor summary pro-forma provided below. We will update the list each quarter in line with the timing of the HNDU quarterly pipeline.

Heat networks investor summary: form

MS Word Document, 93.8KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.
Request an accessible format.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a
version of this document in a more accessible format, please email enquiries@beis.gov.uk.
Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

If you would like to receive a copy of the consolidated 1-2 page investor summary please contact HNDU@beis.gov.uk clearly stating your name, the organisation you represent and the specific heat network opportunity that you are interested in exploring financing options for. This can be made available to private and public sector heat network opportunities.

Various guides have been published for potential investors:

Delivering UK Energy Investment: Networks 2014

Investing in the UK’s heat infrastructure: Heat networks

Tools and toolkits

The National Heat Map provides accessible high-resolution web-based maps of heat demand by area:

National Heat Map

The Community Heat Network Toolkit provides guidance on community-led heat network projects:

Community Heat Network Toolkit

Regulation and consumer protection

The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) regulations 2014 implement the requirements in the Energy Efficiency Directive with respect to the supply of distributed heat, cooling and hot water:

Heat network metering and billing regulations: compliance and guidance

The government is supporting industry-led initiatives to improve consumer protections and technical standards. These include the Heat Trust and the CIBSE Code of Practice.

Heat Network Guidance Documents

Heat networks: guidance for developers and supply chain

Other Publications relating to heat networks

What is a heat network?

Heat Networks Case Studies

The future of heating: meeting the challenge, March 2013

Low Carbon Cities evaluation

Summary evidence on district heating

Rural Community Energy Fund

Costs of heat networks

Heat network innovation competition (25 June 2015).

What are heat networks?

A heat network – sometimes called district heating – is a distribution system of insulated pipes that takes heat from a central source and delivers it to a number of domestic or non-domestic buildings. The heat source might be a facility that provides a dedicated supply to the heat network, such as a combined heat and power plant; or heat recovered from industry and urban infrastructure, canals and rivers, or energy from waste plants.

Heat networks form an important part of our plan to reduce carbon and cut heating bills for customers (domestic and commercial). They are one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing carbon emissions from heating, and their efficiency and carbon-saving potential increases as they grow and connect to each other. They provide a unique opportunity to exploit larger scale – and often lower cost – renewable and recovered heat sources that otherwise cannot be used. It is estimated by the CCC that around 18% of UK heat will need to come from heat networks by 2050 if the UK is to meet its carbon targets cost effectively.

Available support

The Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU)

The Heat Networks Delivery Unit was established in 2013 to address the capacity and capability challenges which local authorities identified as barriers to heat network deployment in the UK. The Unit provides funding and specialist guidance to local authorities who are developing heat network projects.

Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP)

The Heat Networks Investment Project is delivering £320m of capital investment support to increase the volume of heat networks built, deliver carbon savings for carbon budgets, and help create the conditions for a sustainable market that can operate without direct government subsidy. The pilot phase of the Heat Networks Investment Project ran for six months and awarded £24m to nine successful Local Authority projects in March 2017.

Investing in heat networks

UK heat networks represent a significant investment opportunity across distribution, generation, storage, controls and customer interface. Various guides have been published for potential investors:

Delivering UK Energy Investment: Networks 2014
Investing in the UK’s heat infrastructure: Heat networks

Tools and toolkits

The National Heat Map provides accessible high-resolution web-based maps of heat demand by area:

National Heat Map

Community Heat Network Toolkit provides guidance on community-led heat network projects:

Community Heat Network Toolkit

Regulation and consumer protection

The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) regulations 2014 implement the requirements in the Energy Efficiency Directive with respect to the supply of distributed heat, cooling and hot water:

Heat network metering and billing regulations: compliance and guidance

The government is supporting industry-led initiatives to improve consumer protections and technical standards. These include the Heat Trust and the CIBSE Code of Practice.

Other Publications relating to heat networks

The future of heating: meeting the challenge, March 2013

Low Carbon Cities evaluation

Summary evidence on district heating

Rural Community Energy Fund

Costs of heat networks

Heat network innovation competition (25 June 2015)