TOTNES'S half a century old Civic Hall could be turned into an eco-powerhouse — feeding electricity into the national grid instead of clocking up huge bills for local taxpayers to fund.

And the whole town of Totnes could end up following suit, one town councillor has claimed.

The loss-making town centre hall which is built on concrete stilts is in for a major sustainability makeover thanks to a £500,000 'go greener' triumph.

There are plans to 'retro-fit' the old building with insulation and then plaster the large south facing roof with electricity making photovoltaic cells.

At the moment the hall costs £5,000 to £6,000 a year to heat and light — part of the £20,000 a year Totnes taxpayers hand over to keep the building going.

But once the hall's roof has been turned into a mini power station the building could end up making money by selling extra power back to the national grid.

The project is part of the Transition Streets successful bid for Government cash which will see some £500,000 pumped into shrinking Totnes' carbon footprint.

Totnes Town Council's deputy leader Tony Whitty revealed: "We will be looking at carrying forward a programme which will include insulating the Civic Hall and putting a PV system on the roof.

"The hall runs east-west so the roof faces north and south. The south-facing roof will be covered in PV cells to generate electricity and reduce our consumption."

He said that new Government rules mean that any surplus power the hall produces can be sold back to the national grid.

He said that the cash-winning eco project was aimed at launching community initiatives to cut householders' carbon footprints.

"It means that we can look at whole sections of houses, particularly those in fuel poverty."

He said the cash would be spent on fitting PV cells which could eventually be rolled out to homes across the town.

"In the future we could see all the homes and public buildings in Totnes fitted out," he said.

The Transition Streets bid was made through Transition Town Totnes supported by local councils and various local environmental groups.

Out of more than 500 bids from around the country just 10 were successful.

The successful bids were all community-based projects, explained Mr Whitty.

He said the town council was now looking to find match funding to help fund the Civic Hall section of the town project.

"This is very much in the early stages and nothing has been set up yet," he added.