THE PARISH of Illogan has been chosen as a "green champion" and awarded almost £400,000 to lead the country in pioneering energy-saving ideas.

St Austell has already been named as Cornwall's eco-town and now Tolvaddon has been selected as one of the first eco-communities in the UK.

Over the coming year, £375,000 will be spent on testing ways to save energy in homes and small businesses in an initiative called the "Green Ripple Project".

A selection of houses will be given a green makeover with, for example, smart meters, extra loft insulation and solar panels installed. Other, unmodified, homes will act as a control so the exact savings, both financially and in terms of carbon reduction, can be calculated.

Tolvaddon was chosen following a submission by Cornwall Council's regeneration team and Illogan Regeneration Group, supported by the parish council. Much of the information for the bid came from a parish council survey. It showed that 93% of those who took part wanted the parish council to work on green projects. Parish councillor David Ekinsmyth said: "The overall objective is to demonstrate ways of reducing individual household and small business energy consumption and to save on energy bills.

"We want this to be something that will result in real changes, and that is how we will be able to measure whether or not there's been any form of success."

The Green Ripple Project will also look at ways of reducing the community's carbon footprint, such as the use of electric vehicles, possibly including an electric community minibus, cycle routes and sustainable transport.

Cllr Ekinsmyth added: "This won't be the end of the story. We want it to benefit the whole of Illogan and the wider area in future years.

"We want to come up with some really practical things that people can do to reduce their energy consumption."

Amanda Leonard, regeneration officer with Cornwall Council, said: "The Illogan Green Ripple is a culmination of many years' work by volunteers across the parish of Illogan, including Tolvaddon Regeneration Group, the Illogan Parish Planning Steering Group and Transition Illogan.

"As the first project to come from the parish planning process, we hope that there is something to interest and benefit everyone.

"The idea of the 'ripple effect' is that there will be a lasting legacy wider than Tolvaddon or the parish; this will include infrastructure such as an electric transport charging point, and fund- raising which will be used for the good of the community.

"The timescales are challenging, but this does mean that there will be an opportunity for people to get involved through various community events."

The award of £375,000 comes on top of £135,000 recently granted to Tolvaddon for a community/play area.