Net Zero Villages Grant

Parish councils and village and rurally based community groups in Fenland can apply for grant funding for projects that improve energy efficiency of public buildings or increase access to public or low carbon transport.

Grants of up to £25,000 are available through Net Zero Villages Grant Funding. The Net Zero Villages Grant Funding can provide up to 100 per cent of the project costs (no match funding is required).

A simple 'Expression of Interest' form must be complete and submitted by Sunday, January 5, 2025, for projects to be considered for the funding.

We anticipate most of the funding will be used to improve the energy efficiency of village halls or other buildings that local community groups use.

Net Zero Villages Grant funding could fund projects for community buildings such as solar panels or double glazing, underfloor heating, energy efficient lighting or water saving measures. It could also fund projects like a community led shuttle bus or cycling related facilities.

On this page:

Who can apply?

Applicants must be one of the following:

A parish council within the Fenland district.
A voluntary, community or social enterprise sector organisation, with the applicable asset to be improved being located within a village or rural area of the Fenland district (those within the towns of Chatteris, March, Whittlesey and Wisbech are not eligible for this fund).
Other public sector bodies applying on behalf of a Fenland district community.

Qualifying projects

Qualifying projects must deliver at least one of the following:

Tackle energy use and/or support energy efficiency or energy generation retrofit to a community building; or
Enable access to public transport or access to local services through low carbon transport
Nature based solutions to tackle overheating of community buildings.

And, be able to be completed in full by March 31, 2026.

Funding Available

A total of £84,000 is available for distribution as grants.

It is capital funding, which means that an asset must be created as a consequence of the project. The grant cannot be used for general day to day running costs or maintenance.

The minimum single grant award is intended to be £4,000, and the maximum is £25,000. Applications below the minimum award amount may be considered if proposed impact is significant.

We are grateful for Cambridgeshire-Peterborough Combined Authority providing the base funding to enable Fenland District Council to run this scheme.

Detailed grant information

For further details on the grant scheme, including examples of projects that could be funded and what would be excluded, please see the New Zero Grant Guidance page

How to Apply

Please first read the Net Zero Grant guidance page.

If, once you've read the grant information guidance, you think your proposal might qualify for a grant, please complete a short Expression of Interest Form as soon as possible.

We will then assess your project, including a site visit, to see if your project will likely succeed.

If we think it might, we will then ask you to complete a full application form, which will enable you to set out in more detail what you are proposing to do and how much grant you need.

The full application form will only be sent to those organisations that complete the Expression of Interest form and receive notification from us to proceed with a full application.

When to Apply

You should submit your Expression of Interest form as soon as possible.

We will assess Expression of Interest on a first come first served basis.

If your project is selected, you will be asked to complete a full application.

Related policy

Fenland District Council has resolved to:

promote measures which alleviate the anticipated effects in Fenland of future global climate change, that are affordable and financially viable, and which we believe have a good chance of achieving their proposed end results
meet all climate change targets which are legally required by the UK Government
measure accumulatively the CO2e emission reductions achieved by the council's actions, both through it's own activities and through the funding of schemes directed by or channelled via the council to third parties in the district, using 2018 as the base year.