After a slow start to the government’s Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, which is finally gaining momentum, one of the first locations to benefit from the programme is the coastal town of Gosport in Hampshire, with almost 500 privately owned homes set to take advantage of the energy saving measures.
A severely deprived area, Gosport was historically a major naval and military town associated with the defence and supply infrastructure of Her Majesty’s Naval BASE (HMNB) Portsmouth. In the 1930s Gosport’s industry was dominated by shipbuilding/supplying the Navy and new housing was built to house dockyard workers and Navy servicemen as the rent was far cheaper than in nearby Portsmouth.