New Forest Friends of the Earth take warm homes campaign to Westminster

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners from the New Forest have taken their call for warm homes for everyone to the heart of government.

Members of New Forest Friends of the Earth joined fellow campaigners at Westminster to demand the government’s new Warm Homes Plan, coming into force this spring, is “robust”.

The campaigners said the plan should receive £6billion a year and prioritise the homes most in need of insulation in what they describe as “energy crisis hotspots”, of which they say there are 16 in the Forest.

They added that, failing those measures, the government should identify what other “policy levers and legislation” can be used to ensure all cold homes are insulated by 2035.

Gathering in Parliament Square, campaigners laid hand-made scarves in the shape of ‘55%’, which they claim is the percentage of English and Welsh homes deemed cold, damp and unfit for good health and comfort.

“The striking visual was created to draw attention to the dire state of England and Wales’ poorly-insulated housing stock,” a friends’ spokesperson said. “And the fact that more than half of households continue to be at risk of going cold in winter, particularly while energy bills remain extortionately high.

“In the two constituencies of the New Forest there is an estimated total of 50,000 houses that are not energy efficient, including 18,000 that lack adequate loft and cavity wall insulation.”

New Forest Friends of the Earth’s contribution to the display was eleven scarves painstakingly made by them and and other community group members, including St Mark’s Pennington crafters, and schools including Milford Pre-School Plus and Walhampton Prep.

Other contributions came from repair cafés and energy events in Lymington, Pennington, New Milton and Hythe.

The friends said the scarves were emblazoned with “heartfelt messages” about the energy crisis and solutions that are needed.

New Forest MPs Sir Desmond Swayne and Sir Julian Lewis, who were described as “very supportive” of the warm homes campaign, visited the scarves display.

The friends said Sir Desmond “praised the quality” of the Forest community’s handiwork, and said he “hoped” to be able to pressure the government to produce a robust plan. He also asked for a scarf to be posted to his constituency office after the event.

The friends also said Sir Julian was “very sympathetic” to their demands and “understood the scale of the problems existing for some of his constituents”.

Sir Julian took a scarf from Walhampton School to hang up in his Westminster office before going back into the Commons energy debate.

The friends said during the debate Sir Julian namechecked the New Forest Friends of the Earth, asking Energy Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh if she will acknowledge their “amazing contributions”.

She replied by thanking Sir Julian for reminding the chamber of “economic inheritance” the government received from the Conservatives and said the government is “keen to hear ideas” from warm homes campaigners nationwide.

The friends said they were “very grateful” for the New Forest MPs’ support, which they hope will “bolster calls for a credible national plan to ensure no one endures another winter of hardship”.

New Forest Friends of the Earth member, Gill Hickman, added: “It’s been nearly three years since energy prices first sky-rocketed, but far from having returned to 2021 levels bills are still eye-wateringly high for too many.

“We simply can’t afford to accept this as the new normal when people are feeling the impacts of the cost of living crisis in every area of their lives.

“The good news is that we have the solutions that can tackle the scourge of cold homes for good, alongside curbing the harmful planet-warming emissions they produce. We need the government to go much further and faster on what it’s already pledged towards rolling out a national programme of insulation. We ask that those who need it most are targeted first for support.

“We are hoping that the display at Westminster will help us secure a national Warm Homes Plan that is robust and meaningful. We are grateful for the support from Sir Julian and Sir Desmond that will hopefully let us achieve this goal.”