EURO-MP SUCCESSFULLY LOBBIES GOVERNMENT TO SAVE 'REALL' FUNDING

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 6th Apr 2006

Northumberland Lib Dem Euro MP Fiona Hall has successfully lobbied the Government to continue funding the REALL rural renewables energy initiative, based near Bedlington.

Fiona wrote to Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks amid fears that funding for the initiative was about to dry up.

REALL has now been advised by the Countryside Agency that interim funding should be available, with a further possibility of Big Lottery funding out of the Reaching Communities pot, which would enable REALL to expand its remit to cover the whole of the North East.

Said Fiona:

"There was a very real danger of the expertise and knowledge within REALL being lost because of a gap in Government funding for renewables.

"That would have been a disaster at a time when more and more people are interested in using renewable energy.

"REALL - Renewable Energy at a Local Level - is an initiative which works to make renewable energy readily accessible for communities in Northumberland and Durham, and I am delighted that the work can now continue uninterrupted."