Deputy Mayor Visits Sutton to Champion Climate Innovation

This week I was delighted to welcome the Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy Mete Coban MBE from the Greater London Authority (GLA) to showcase our borough’s innovative efforts to combat the climate emergency and our ambitious plans for the future. 

The tour started with a visit to a local business, Cafe Mica, in Times Square shopping centre, which is part of Sutton Council’s Green Energy Partnership scheme. The scheme aims to help local businesses take advantage of the benefits of the sustainability agenda, such as reduced energy bills, increased customer engagement and participating businesses benefit from a 70% discount on their business rates bill. 

The tour continued at Harris Academy Sutton in Belmont, the UK’s first Passivhaus secondary school. The facility sets a national benchmark for sustainable design, reducing energy use while providing an optimal learning environment. The school is also part of Sutton’s masterplan for the London Cancer Hub, offering a healthy, comfortable and energy-efficient school for the borough’s aspiring scientists of the future. The delegation spoke with students and staff to see how sustainability is embedded in their education.

The visit also highlighted Sutton Decentralised Energy Network (SDEN), which delivers sustainable, low-carbon heating to local homes and businesses. Work, with support from the GLA, is currently underway to connect the New Mill Quarter site in Hackbridge to the Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) at Beddington Lane. This will use energy that would otherwise go to waste. 

All these initiatives demonstrate Sutton’s leadership in renewable energy and sustainable development. It was a pleasure to welcome the Deputy Mayor to Sutton and show him some of the innovative projects and schemes that the Council is taking forward to tackle the climate emergency, achieve carbon neutrality and drive growth in the borough. We are ambitious to do more and look forward to working with the Mayor of London and the government to continue this important work.