NEARLY £600,000 could be spent on new projects in the district after plans to install solar panels on council buildings fell through.

Braintree Council has been installing the panels on various buildings in an effort to save money on bills.

The scheme also generated cash because of Ofgem’s ‘Feed-in-Tariff’ scheme, which paid money back to solar panel operators who fed electricity to the national grid.

Halstead district councillor Jackie Pell warned the money would probably not be used for the town’s infrastructure needs.

She said: “There are lots of things that we would like to spend it on but you have to be realistic.Ihave no doubt that officers are working out various schemes that it can now be spent on.”

Projects at Halstead Leisure Centre, Braintree Swimming and Fitness, Unit 9 Lakes Road in Braintree, and the Discovery Centre in Great Notley have already been completed.

However, George Yard car park in Braintree and Witham Leisure Centre missed out because the government withdrew funding for the scheme on December 31.

The council had set aside £638,500 and after some expenditure at Great Notley Country Park it now has £586,000 left for new schemes.

The money comes from the council’s capital funds pot so it can only be invested in oneoff projects or property, rather than services, but Mrs Pell said it was unlikely a large amount would be spent on Halstead.

She said: “I would like more for the community centre but you mustn’t be greedy, if you become greedy you get nothing.

“It would have to be spent on things that Braintree Council are responsible for.”

Mrs Pell ruled out repairs to the Chapel Street footbridge, closed last year by Essex County Council, or investment in the Halstead Council-run public toilets.

Robert Mitchell, councillor responsible for energy management, said: “We had planned two larger solar projects for the roof of George Yard car park and Witham Leisure Centre.

"However, due to uncertainty over the future of the subsidy paid for producing green electricity from solar panels, we have decided that the money should go back into the corporate capital pot and taken into account when we consider proposals for the council’s capital investment programme over the next four years.”