THE historic church of St Mary's in Belstone is taking its next step into the future as it considers installing an innovative new renewable energy scheme.

The Devon Association for Renewable Energy (DARE) has been in discussions with the church about the possibility of installing a woodfuel heating system, also known as biomass.

As well as providing an efficient, environmentally friendly scheme for the church, there is a possibility to roll this scheme out further across the village for a number of Belstone's homes.

The idea would be to have a single biomass boiler with hot water pipes to nearby homes or potentially to many homes, with these heat mains pipes laid under the roads.

Such a district heating scheme could be owned by the community. Local people could invest in it, possibly earning a good rate of interest and become members of the organisation owning the scheme.

This community ownership model is being used successfully by Plymouth Energy Community. They have used it to finance solar panels on 20 primary schools in the city.

The study could also look at other community energy options, such as hydroelectricity gener-ation or PV panels on the village hall roof.

The Rev Stephen Cook, Rector of the Northmoor Team Ministry, said: 'I am delighted to be associated with what could be a very beneficial project for Belstone.

'The church in Devon is committed to doing everything it can to reduce its carbon footprint and it would be ideal to replace the ancient boiler at St Mary's with something which is efficient and planet friendly.

'A major scheme involving lots of houses in Belstone would be a complex project, but it's a very capable and effective community and I am hopeful we can rise to the challenge.'

There will be a public meeting held later this month to gauge public feeling on the potential scheme and see if a 100% grant to carry out a feasibility study into this possibility should be sought.

The meeting will open with a presentation from DARE followed by a general discussion where visitors can ask questions. It takes place on March 18 at 7.30pm. All are welcome to attend.