RESIDENTS of Llangattock are celebrating after the village has been named the greenest community in the UK.

The environmental efforts of Llangattock Green Valleys led to the judges of the British Gas Green Streets Challenge being impressed by their ambition to become a carbon negative community and awarded them £100,000.

Michael Butterfield, Project leader at Llangattock, said, "Winning Green Streets is incredibly exciting. We've all worked really hard towards this and it's great to see that British Gas really understands and appreciates what we're trying to do here in Llangattock. 

"Llangattock Green Valleys' aim is to make our community carbon negative by 2015 - so as well as promoting energy efficiency across the board we plan to become a net exporter of renewable energy. As well as reducing our carbon footprint, this strategy will bring revenue, jobs and skills into the community and help us build a strong community asset base. It's a tall order, but thanks to Green Streets we're already well on the way with solar PV, micro-hydro and ambitious plans for a community scale anaerobic digestion facility. 

"The £100,000 Green Streets prize will help us achieve even more."

Over the last 18 months a number of measures were installed in homes and community buildings helping the people of Llangattock slash their energy use and CO2 emissions. 

In that time the Llangattock Primary School installed solar panels and 100 radiator panels, the village hall installed an air source heat pump and 43 local homes installed 655 energy efficiency and generation measures including insulation, solar panels, a biomass boiler, multi-fuel stoves and new efficient boilers. 

As a result the community expects to save £62,000 over the next five years and nearly 200 tonnes of CO2.

Gearoid Lane, Managing Director of British Gas New Markets, said, "Over the last 14 months the people of Llangattock have shown some amazing levels of commitment to cutting carbon emissions, changing their behaviour and educating the wider community about what can be done.  We are thrilled to crown them Green Streets champions.

"We believe it is people at a local level who will help revolutionise the way that energy is generated and consumed in the UK.  The British Gas Green Streets project is about helping people act as trailblazers to inspire others.  Already we have seen 800 other community groups across the country wanting to set up their own energy projects."

Llangattock was chosen from 100 nationwide projects to be one of the final 14 communities who would go head-to-head over 14 months as part of the Green Streets challenge - a project helping Britain's communities to save energy and generate their own energy.

Mr Butterfield added, "British Gas has already invested over £137,000 in our community through Green Streets and that has brought about some amazing changes that will ensure a sustainable long-term future for Llangattock. 

"We're committed to building on this, and to helping neighbouring communities develop their own sustainable vision.

"Through Green Streets we've learned that together ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things.

"The past 18 months has been a huge success for us here in Llangattock because we've all been working with a common purpose and a firm belief that our future is not being written for us but by us."

Llangattock Green Valleys has also received praise from the Welsh Assembly. Former Assembly Member for Environment, Sustainability and Housing Jane Davidson chose to visit the village on her last day as minister.

Calling the community "inspirational" Ms Davidson said that it "demonstrated what communities can do help the environment and become more sustainable."

Congratulating the project, Kirsty Williams AM for Brecon and Radnorshire said, "I want to pass on my congratulations to the people of Llangattock.

"After the years of hard work and commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of the village it is thoroughly deserved. It just shows that when you work together as a community, going green can be beneficial for everyone."