Kilbraur

Community

Falck have offered a community benefit package of £95,000 per year which will be shared between the local communities. The community benefit fund will be administered by representatives of local communities to provide funding for long term projects to benefit the local community in areas such as energy efficiency, conservation, tourism and community development. A local co-operative will be set up by local people to purchase a stake in the wind farm starting early in 2008. With the support of Energy4All Ltd - who work to promote community ownership of renewable energy schemes and energy conservation measures – the co-op will buy a share in the wind farm from Falck. Local people will be able to join the co-op, buying shares worth between approx £250 and £20,000. Profits from the sale of the green electricity produced by the wind farm will then be distributed to members through an annual dividend. Falck has established a liaison group with the community councils from Rogart, Golspie and Brora to keep local communities informed about progress during construction of the access tracks and the wind farm. The liaison group shall continue to meet regularly throughout the construction phase. Local school children are also being kept well informed of the new windfarm in their community. The project manager for Kilbraur, Euan Fraser, has visited local primary and secondary schools to teach the children about the wind farms that will soon be built in their area. A Conservation Management Plan has been agreed with Scottish Natural Heritage which includes two main aims. Firstly, the positive management of over 8,000 hectares of land surrounding the wind farm to help improve the habitat for Hen Harriers and other moorland species. Secondly the restoration of degraded blanket bog and the regeneration of wet and dry heath. The programme of improving the habitat for Hen Harriers is to be supported by an extensive ongoing programme of ornithological monitoring. Recently, Falck has provided funds to support a community initiated project to install a weather system at the local high school. The data from the weather system will be broadcast online, allowing it to be a novel educational resource for all of the local schools.