COMMUNITY BENEFIT

RES believes that communities should benefit directly from hosting a wind farm. We have been looking at how to manage and distribute the community benefit fund associated with the project which will provide £25,000 per year in to the immediate, local community every year for 25 years - or £625,000 over the lifetime of the wind farm! Further details on the community fund will be made available later in the year and the funding will start when the wind farm is finished in Spring 2013.

Community funds are operating successfully at other RES wind farms in the UK. For example, at Altahullion Wind Farm in Northern Ireland, the fund has been spent on the creation of a new community riverside pathway and footbridge, entertainment activities for family fun days, summer schemes for local children, and the maintenance and running of community buildings.

At Forss Wind Farm, in the Highlands, the fund has been spent on the erection of Christmas lights, swimming training camps, sports equipment for the local beaver group and educational trips for students.  At Black Hill Wind Farm, in the Scottish Borders, the community fund that has been used support a range of projects and activities in the local area from nursery schools to youth clubs, equipment for the Community Safety Panel and a hoist for the local swimming pool to enable all users to have access to the facility.