Earlsburn

Community

Falck have offered a community benefit package of £35,000 per year which will be shared between the three local communities to the east of Earlsburn for the lifetime of the turbines. The first payment will be made by the end of 2007. The community benefit fund will be administered by the Scottish Community Foundation (SCF) to provide funding for long term projects to benefit the local community in areas such as energy efficiency, conservation, tourism and community development.

The local community of Fintry, to the west of Earlsburn, will benefit separately from a direct interest in one of the 15 turbines, which was developed through the community company Fintry Renewable Energy Enterprise .

Students from Fintry primary school have also benefited from the involvement of Falck. Students at Fintry were taken on a tour of the wind farm at Earlsburn, providing an important supplement to their renewable energy curriculum.

Falck has committed a major initiative to improve the ecological habitat local to the wind farm. The Species and Habitat Action Plan (SHAP) has been agreed in consultation with Scottish Natural Heritage and RSPB which sets out a plan to mitigate the potential impact of the wind farm on raptors. The Plan allows for the creation of an alternative habitat for raptors through felling an area of Bannockburn Forest. Part of the forest including 12 hectares of mixed broadleaved species is to be enhanced providing a suitable habitat for black grouse. An extensive programme of ongoing bird monitoring has been agreed to help measure the success of the Plan.