SOUTH Dorset MP Richard Drax roared onto Portland on his motorbike and declared a biomass heating system at the Olympic Sailing Village raring and ready to go.

He cut the ribbon in front of the new wood pellet boilers at the £13million Officers Field housing development on Portland and praised the ‘innovative’ sustainable design.

Invited guests to the ceremony also included chairman of Dorset County Council John Wilson and borough mayor councillor Graham Winter.

The final fit out of the houses and landscaping at the site is currently being completed ahead of the handover to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) in January for its temporary use as the Sailing Village in the summer of 2012.

The site will then be handed back to ZeroC developers from September 2012 when 19 homes will be transferred to Magna Housing Association as affordable housing and 58 homes will be sold on the open market.

Mr Drax thanked the developer for welcoming him to the site and said he made it on his motorbike despite the high winds buffeting him on the causeway.

He said: “The history of this site goes back some time.

“Initially I was a bit nervous about losing our green space here but now we’ve got what we’ve got and you’ve done a marvellous job.

“The houses are fantastic, the Olympics are coming and the biomass boilers will help those moving in after the Games.

“This is very welcome news.”

Councillor Winter said : “It’s sustainable energy which is jolly good, it’s the right way to go.

“It’s a shame it’s taken so long for this country to catch up to this, in Sweden they’ve been doing it for years.

“It’s good we’ve taken it on board and I think this will be an Olympic legacy for Portland.”

Mr Wilson, who is also the county council’s champion for sustainability, also praised the development, which also features rainwater harvesting for use to flush toilets, for garden use and for washing machines, as a legacy of the Olympics, along with the Relief Road and sailing academy.

All homes are super-insulated and the scheme will be supplied with an electric car for residents’ use.

The biomass boiler celebration followed a topping out ceremony on September 13 this year when Olympian Jonathan Edwards declared the main structural build completed.

Kim Slowe, managing director of ZeroC, said: “ZeroC has greatly enjoyed working with LOCOG and the local authority to deliver a first-class athletes village.

“Developers very rarely get the opportunity to participate in such a high-profile event and Officers Field has the added bonus that it is delivering much-needed, high quality, sustainable housing to Portland at affordable prices.”

How the boilers work

WOOD pellet boilers will provide heat and hot water to the ZeroC Officers Field site’s 77 homes, while reducing the carbon output by at least 55 per cent.

The boilers are fuelled with sustainably-sourced wood pellets, a renewable and carbon neutral fuel incorporating waste wood products such as sawdust, brought in bulk to minimise transport impacts.

The boiler heats water in a large buffer tank which is then distributed via a highly-insulated heat main running around the properties.

Each property has a metered heat exchanger which draws heat from the main to provide domestic hot water for washing and heating through conventional radiators.

Find out more at officersfield.com