Council recruits spy plane for war on residents who waste energy

Haringey Council in north London is the first local authority in the UK to compile a heat map which can pinpoint how much energy is escaping from each property.

Councillor Isidoros Diakides, Labour's executive member for housing, said: "This single study will play a key role in helping us address three of the biggest issues currently facing Haringey - climate change, fuel poverty and housing waiting lists."

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But the move was slammed by Justin Hinchcliffe, of Haringey Conservatives.

He said: "Given that the council cannot even keep the streets clean, we're amazed that they've launched this project.

"Haringey should get its own house in order before it attacks residents and business. The council's record on recycling, for example, is poor and patchy and lights burn throughout the night in its Wood Green offices."

The colour coded map was created from footage taken by a plane fitted with a military thermal imaging camera.

The mapping took place at night in winter when buildings were heated and the cold air allowed high quality data from an altitude of 1,500 to 2,000 feet.

The plane flew 17 runs back and forth across the borough.

Haringey Council is the first local authority in the country to publish an online heat map.

It shows levels of heat loss from almost every building in the borough's 30 square kilometres. Robert Wilkes, 39, boss of map suppliers hotmapping.co.uk, rejected any suggestion it was an intrusion into people's privacy along the lines of satellite imaging service Google Earth.

He said: "I think it is less intrusive than Google Earth quite honestly.

"The fact that you can go on the Internet and zoom right in and see what colour car they're driving. I don't really see this as particularly intrusive.

"It's not a photograph; it's merely a measure of heat loss. I think everybody should find it very useful - particularly businesses, schools and hospitals." Mr Wilkes said feedback from residents had been "nothing but positive".

The mapping took place seven years ago in 2000 but Haringey, which has spent £21,000 on the study, is understood to have now commissioned a 2007 update.

But Mr Wilkes said the 2000 data was still valid. "It will be useful to compare and contrast the old with the new, but I also believe that this data would stand on its own," he said.

"It is obviously limited when it comes to new development in the borough, but the majority of the buildings will not have been modified in any way that would affect heat loss."

The footage of heat loss was converted into stills laid over a property map of the borough and converted into an easy to read colour code.

The council believes the map will encourage residents to better insulate their homes and identify homes in need of energy-saving grants.

It will also help identify empty properties to be used for housing.

Councillor Bob Hare, the Liberal Democrat opposition's environmental spokesman, said: "After seven years obviously the data has reduced in value but I think it's a good initiative and just the sort of thing I would wish to have done myself if I was taking the decision."