A SADDLEWORTH woman who founded a community hydroelectricity project has been honoured – and says she hopes her work will get more people talking about the environment.
Alison Brittle was awarded a British Empire Medal in the King’s Birthday Honours list for her services to Saddleworth, thanks to her work on Saddleworth Community Hydro in Greenfield.
Based at Dove Stone Reservoir, the project uses a cross flow turbine to generate renewable electricity, and saves more than 170 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.
Twelve years since its launch, it now produces enough energy to power about 100 homes across the area – and enough money to offer grants to other community projects.
“Saddleworth Community Hydro is something that stands out,” Alison said. “We work as a collegiate board of equals, and everyone’s got their strengths.
“But then a group of friends got together and said I’d been quite busy with it!”
The hydroelectric system at Dove Stone Reservoir was the first in England to be built into an existing dam.
More than 16 million litres of water rush through the system every day, spinning the turbine, which is connected to an electric generator. The electricity is then sold through the national grid.
According to Alison, the idea for a community electricity project was first floated in 2008, after a showing of the 2006 film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’.
The documentary follows former US vice president Al Gore’s attempts to educate the American public about global warming, and quickly got the members of the Greenfield and Grasscroft Residents Association talking.
“Back in 2008, when we had Phil Woolas for MP, he was the Minister for the Environment,” Alison added.
“And he arranged a showing of the film. I was already aware of climate change and so I attended the film, and somebody else suggested that we use some of the water we’ve got glowing in through the rivers to generate power.
“I have a degree in Physics, and a friend of mine at the time was a control engineer and lecturer at the university, and went on to build the Centre for Alternative Technology. So I’d had a nodding interest in [the environment] for years.”
Changes to the environment have led to an increase in extreme weather events across the UK, which are only set to become more common according to the Royal Meteorological Society.
July 2022 brought the UK’s hottest summer on record, with temperatures in the south east surpassing 40 degrees (about 34 degrees in Oldham).
Scientists now predict a 50-50 chance of another 40 degree day in the next 10 years, with longer heatwaves set to become more regular going forward.
Meanwhile, a three week-long wildfire on Saddleworth Moor – which was said to have spread dangerous pollution to millions as far as fifty miles away – led researchers to warn that drier, hotter summers caused by climate change could lead to wildfires becoming more common.
As Saddleworth Community Hydro continues to work on producing renewable energy for the region, Alison says she is concerned to see less people talking about climate change, despite it being more important than ever.
“I think climate change has gone off the agenda at the moment,” she says. “Some people look at this and say, ‘Oh, it’s all rubbish, this has always been happening’. I think there’s been a lot of oil companies behind that.
“I’ve been involved with a charity called Wellsprings, in a little village in El Salvador where they’re beginning to really feel the effects of climate change. They’ve had a big drought this week which has ruined the harvest.
“I’ve been there, managing sports and educational projects, but I started with it about 20, 30 years ago.
“The children were leaving school at 12. The place has changed now, there’s technical education available, but we comparatively live in quite an okay country. Compared to them, we’re kind of the last people to see these effects on the environment.”
In an effort to continue promoting sustainable lifestyles among local people, Saddleworth Community Hydro now offers grants of up to £20,000 to local projects intent on helping the environment.
These projects can range from providing eco-friendly equipment to businesses and venues all the way to Forest School sessions to teach children about the natural world.
They can afford to do so thanks to selling off the excess profit they make from electricity, particularly as energy prices skew higher due to conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“At the beginning of the Ukraine war, electricity prices absolutely shot through the ceiling,” she says. “And we benefitted from that of course, because we were able to sell our electricity at a premium.
“That’s when we came to the conclusion of, ‘Okay, we’re generating a lot of money, and we would like to prioritise our grants for the more deprived areas of Oldham, because that’s where people are really struggling.’
“I also work for Citizens’ Advice as an advisor, so I’m well aware of the incredibly difficult situations many Oldhamers find themselves in, particularly when it comes to things like energy costs.
“There’s a family school down at Mather Street, who made raised beds for the children and people around to grow vegetables. The children not only learn about where carrots come from, other than supermarket shelves, but about how to grow them too – that was a really nice one.”
Saddleworth Community Hydro is entirely volunteer-run. The British Empire Medal is the latest in a long line of awards, including a Community Energy England Award and an ‘Engineering Oscar’ from the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Alison continued: “We’ve got a brilliant team of volunteers willing to do it. We’re all very good friends, and it’s very pleasant to spend time with them all. We also do have younger people who are involved, so for now, it’s all about making sure we’ve got the next generation to carry it on.
“I had two reasons for accepting this British Empire Medal. The first was the environment. The second was to try and publicise sustainable projects a bit more.
“I thought of this as an opportunity, and a tiny way to bring more public consciousness around it overall.”
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