As local authorities scramble to cut costs and save money, one Worcestershire council has landed itself in hot water for suggesting energy generated at a crematorium could be used to heat a nearby swimming pool.
Redditch Borough Council is championing the revolutionary new plan in its bids to cut energy bills and reduce carbon emissions.
But Unison has attacked the proposal branding it “sick and an insult to residents”.
The local authority said it was looking at the possibility of heating the town’s re-vamped Abbey Stadium, due to open next year, with waste energy from the crematorium.
Currently the heat from the site is pumped into the air and lost and the local authority believe re-using it could save thousands of pounds in energy costs.
Some councils already re-use energy to heat crematoria buildings but if the move goes ahead, Redditch would be the first to heat a leisure centre in that way.
Roger McKenzie, West Midlands regional secretary for Unison, said the proposals were “insulting and insensitive” and called on the council to apologise.
He said: “These proposals are sick and an insult to local residents.
“Unfortunately, local authorities are increasingly pursuing desperate polices in a reaction to the unprecedented spending cuts imposed from Whitehall.”
Council leader Carole Gandy defended the idea. She said: “I’d much rather use the energy rather than just see it going out of the chimney and heating the sky. It will make absolutely no difference to the people who are using the crematorium for services.”
Councillors will discuss the idea at an executive committee on February 1 and at a full council meeting on February 7.
