MOULTON could go totally green if enough villagers are committed to making it happen.

The parish council discussed turning Moulton carbon neutral at its latest meeting, inspired by the efforts of fellow Cheshire village Ashton Hayes.

Clr Alan Burgess raised the idea during the October meeting after following Ashton Hayes’ bid to become England’s first carbon neutral village.

Clr Jo Kershaw said this was something the council had investigated a few years ago, going as far as looking into whether it would be worthwhile buiding a windmill to offset the energy used by the village.

She said: “We are just on the cusp of it being viable to have a windmill.

“There’s a certain figure to be above but we’re just on it.

“And what do you do with the energy? The power companies put a windmill in, take power and give you a rebate.

“Windmills aren’t really the best way of going carbon neutral.

“If you’re going to into this what you need is a group of people prepared to carry it forward – and such a group hasn’t made itself known so far.” Parish clerk Elaine Beech suggested that the issue could be examined during an imminent review of Moulton’s parish plan.

She said: “The parish plan needs to be reviewed, which will be a major project that needs to be undertaken.

“It may be that during the consultation process of the parish plan you can look at engaging the community around the Ashton Hayes proposal.”

Ashton Hayes started its carbon neutral journey in 2006 and has cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 23 per cent since then.