Merton Council is looking to cut electricity use by 15% at Morden’s Civic Centre.

The necessary work to install the new eco-friendly equipment, which has a lower electricity voltage, will mean the council will have to shut down power at the centre on Sunday 13 April – but staff are aiming to cause as little disruption as possible.

During Sunday’s shutdown electricians will be replacing old metering equipment and their actions mean between 8am and 8pm there will be no electricity at the Civic Centre.

The council’s IT systems will be unavailable from 6am until around 11.30pm. Merton Council apologises to residents as people wanting to make payments online, fill in online forms, make online bookings or access library catalogues will not be able to do so during these hours. However, the information pages on the web site (www.merton.gov.uk) will still be available.

Allowances will be made for those unable to make parking payments while the online payment system is down and we are also looking at ways of using a generator to keep at least some of the phone services operating.

More work will be needed next month, and further service interruptions are likely in the second half of May.

Corporate Services Director Caroline Holland said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this power shutdown but it is a necessary part of our work to turn Merton into a greener borough for our residents and to make sure that, as a council, we use electricity efficiently.

“By cutting our carbon emissions and making sure all our equipment is up to date we are ensuring the needs and future of our residents are put first. ”

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