Windfarm could generate £1.25million for village
Ally McRoberts • Published 14 Oct 2011 08:25
15 Comments
A FIFTH generation Saline farmer said erecting a community windfarm on his land could provide a windfall of more than £1.25million for the village.
Craig Mitchell, who runs Hallcroft Farms, said 20 per cent of the profits would go to Saline and help pay for improvements identified in a new action plan for the village.
Two wind turbines are planned at West Craighouse - the earliest they could be erected is 2013 - with the potential to raise at least £50,000 a year for Saline for 25 years.
Difficulties in the farming sector have forced many farmers to diversify into other areas with windfarms now looked on as a potential source of funding.
Mr Mitchell said, "The local community council has recently completed a community action plan for projects that matter most to local people.
"We are consulting with them at an early stage in the hope that the electricity generated by the wind turbines will eventually provide an invaluable source of funding for these local projects and everybody here can enjoy a lasting benefit from green energy generation in the community."
He added, "Another benefit is it's a much greater amount of money than they would get from an opencast mine, for example."
Mr Mitchell's family has been in the Saline area for well over 100 years and he said he had no intention of upsetting the village or spoiling the land.
He also wanted to make clear they were "not a front" for the ABO Wind company, who had a controversial plan for a windfarm near Saline turned down last year.
Mr Mitchell explained, "It is completely separate from ABO Wind, we're nothing to do with them and this is not a front for their company.
"We have asked Fife Council if we can have access to relevant information they submitted for their application, such as bird studies in the area, for example, but that's it.
"The scale is also radically different from their proposals, the positions we're looking at would pose no problems for Edinburgh Airport's radar and the height of our turbines would be smaller. ABO Wind wanted 125 metres-high turbines, ours would be 105m at most to the blade tip."
A loan for £125,000 has been secured through the Scottish Government's Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) to help with the pre-planning costs of the project.
Planning consultant Joe Fitzpatrick said, "We're at a very early stage, there will be ample time and opportunity for the community to participate in consultation and the very earliest we could put up a turbine would be 2013."
Donald Murdoch, from Saline Community Council, said, "We would prefer to keep an open mind until we hear all the facts and the arguments for and against.
"Some people got wind of this proposal and some are concerned about a proliferation of turbines but in general it's better to wait and see what's being proposed.
"Part of Craig's proposal would put money back into the community and that's obviously something people would have to consider but we have to balance that against the impact it could have and we'll wait until we hear what people's views are."
Pictured is the new wind turbine at the FMC plant, based on the Pitreavie Industrial Estate in Dunfermline. At 100 metres from base to tip, it's taller than the Wallace Monument.
Have your say. Post a comment on this article.
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brandobhoy
10 posts
Oct 14, 16:41
Report commentcant belive that was allowed to be put in the middle of dunfermline, monstrosity of a thing, couldn't believe it when i seen it for the 1st time yesterday
Recommend?
Yes 46
No 9
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Bailseye
5 posts
Oct 14, 17:44
Report comment@brandobhoy: Your telling me you previously looked over the industrial estate and said "what a lovely view!". When my grandad had his beloved coal fire replaced with a electric one he was upset, it wasnt as nice to look at for one. He even spat on the imitation coal forgeting it had been changed over!! But thinking my grandad and grandmother could get heat at the turn of a button instead of filling a coal bucket in the middle of winter was a god send. Its the future brandobhoy, so better start getting used to it!!
Recommend? Yes 12
No 23
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Stuartggray
30 posts
Oct 14, 21:42
Report commentWind turbines do not produce enough electricity to make them viable. They are a way of getting EU money for whoever has them built on their land. They do not contribute to the grid, and are the cause of all our energy bills going up to pay for these fallacies.
That one at FMC is far too big for it's environment and should be taken down and it's owners fined. The idiots who passed it should be put in stocks and pelted with our bloated power bills.
Recommend? Yes 40
No 14
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NotHappyJan
192 posts
Oct 14, 23:22
Report commentFMC should be called to account. The wind turbine is ugly and will make people I'll with it's low frequency noise pollution. We must fight to keep these things out of our area or all will suffer. At least they are not in my back yard yet, so it's not too much of an issue but really you should start writing to the council explaining that these noisy machines should elk aged in the less affluent areas of the region.
Recommend? Yes 42
No 55
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ilovefife
2 posts
Oct 15, 01:32
Report commentIf you think turbines aren't near you, think again, just because they haven't been built yet and you don't know about them doesn't mean there aren't plans for them. It's often too late to object when you do find out. Take a look at SPOT Fife's website to see how many are in planning just in the area north and west of Dunfermline alone, it was an eye opener for me. The poor people of Saline have been through this already, these turbines are just across the road from the original plans but because they're being put there by a local and not a big company that somehow makes it OK? Take a look at how big Hallcroft Farms are and how much EU subsidy they get every year, then think if the community get 20% and that's £1.25m Hallcroft Farms are getting £5m. This is from a subsidy, i.e. tax, that every one of us is paying for on our electricity bills, about £200 per year per househould and rising because of wind power. The population of Saline is about 1200, £1.25m divided by 1200 is £1042 per person over 25 years or £41.67 per person per year, so they aren't paying you, you are paying them. Is this really worth suffering the noise, reduction in house prices, splitting community opinion and ruining our countryside? This money is being used to bribe those who don't understand how much landowners and developers make from wind farms while we all pay for them. If they worked and did save the environment it may be a different matter.
Recommend? Yes 40
No 8
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GREEN HIGHLANDER
7 posts
Oct 16, 10:31
Report commentIf Craig Mitchell, who runs Hallcroft Farms, assumes he can use his influence and association with Saline & Steelend community to pull the wool over the eyes of local residents, in order to ease the progression of his Wind Turbine’s planning application, let him be wary. The 40 pieces of silver he is offering will cut no ice with the hard headed, practical local people.
If the £50,000 per year, he refers to, was unconditionally guaranteed, without any local community or personal liability, where monies were to be paid up front, each and every year, and were legally secured and binding, then there maybe a consideration.
To date, Mr Mitchell has produced no figures to show how he arrives at the above sum, considering that wind turbines are only just over 20% efficient (see John Muir Report) , potentially the local communities projected revenue could be less than £10k per year.
Think on Mr Mitchel, Saline & Steelend mothers don’t produce any fools.
Recommend? Yes 21
No 4
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******
Oct 16, 19:40
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BobTheBuilder
111 posts
Oct 16, 23:33
Report commentThe FMC one just seemed to appear overnight. Did anyone else know about it beforehand or was it just me that missed something? Maybe somebody thought 'now that the white elephant factory's getting pulled down, let's build another iconic structure that can be seen from all around'?
Recommend? Yes 19
No 5
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maclam
317 posts
Oct 17, 00:07
Report commentpublic enquiry needed to clarify why this eysore was allowed to be erected , i can never remember any notification given to the public in dunfermline that it was proposed to erect such a gigantic turbine within the town , sadly the dunfermline press which usualy manages to find loads of no news stories regularly failed to let everyone know about this totally newsworthy event , thanks to the press for keeping everyone in the dark.
Recommend? Yes 20
No 7
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lydiapot1
118 posts
Oct 17, 06:37
Report commentI was walking down the glen trying to avoid all those smelly dogs running about off their leads then I manage to look up for a second because there was no poops in front of me and I saw this ugly carbuncle in the distance. It was blowing a gale and I counted this thing turning at about 1 revolution per 5 minutes. Is that enough to power even a bicyle headlamp?
Recommend? Yes 10
No 16
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AlanChas
2 posts
Oct 17, 10:05
Report commentDunno what you're on about. There's been at least four stories in the press. I was worried when I saw their plans so kept them. Last one I found in Press was mid July. Starts off with 'A WIND TURBINE taller than the Wallace Monument is set to go up at FMC Technologies’ site in Dunfermline.
The 100 metres-tall turbine is currently being constructed by Triodos Renewables at FMC’s site in Pitreavie Business Park and is expected to be up and running by the end of the year.
It is owned by Triodos and will generate 1.5 megawatts of electricity, all of which is expected to be used by FMC. Any excess will be sold to the National Grid.'
It is a monster tho.
Recommend? Yes 16
No 4
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maclam
317 posts
Oct 18, 22:21
Report commentpoint taken " AlanChas " and apologies to the dunfermline press, i would never have thought for a minute that they would have printed four separate stories about this solitary eyesore of a wind turbine. it seems" BobTheBuilder " for some reason or other also missed these four stories the same as myself .
Recommend? Yes 2
No 0
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joesbro
200 posts
Oct 19, 13:37
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cutiefox12
33 posts
Oct 21, 12:22
Report commentThe view from my window is disgusting now, can't understand how it was allowed to be built. I have phobia with tall structures (honestly I have allways had it) so you can imagine how I feel. I can't drive near the one at Halbeath it makes me shake, I feel for the people who live near them as the are horrible and have no need to be in built up areas. Dunfermline will be ruined if this goes on.
Recommend? Yes 9
No 8
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triskel
257 posts
Oct 21, 23:29
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angelordemon
1 post
Oct 27, 00:18
Report commentI can't understand Fife Councils decision to allow the erection of this inappropriate structure. I'm an engineer and generally appreciate the beauty in these sort of things - in actual fact I quite like wind turbines....from a distance! I can appreciate the point of view of some commentators that there is already a significant industrial landscape in the area. But aside from the new crane at Rosyth, there is nothing that so blatantly pronounces itself by towering over the surroundings as this turbine. Even the crane is far enough away from Dunfermline to avoid taking anything away from it's lovely skyline. The wind turbine however was the first thing that my family noticed when driving into Dunfermline when they visited last week. I only moved to Dunfermline 18 months ago - being drawn by the historic feel and lovely skyline of the city centre. I've got to admit that I'm now wondering if I want to stay here. Finally, I'm not sure that the council or local population are aware of some of the horror stories of turbines and the failures/fires that have ensued...not a risk I would want to mitigate by placing one in the middle of an industrial estate.
Recommend? Yes 12
No 2
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******
Nov 3, 21:53
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******
Nov 7, 16:09
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******
Nov 7, 16:46
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******
Nov 7, 18:14
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