Garlenick wind turbine project: community fund advisory panel to be established

Construction should be starting on the Garlenick Estate in autumn 2013 to build the two wind turbines that were granted planning permission in January.

As part of the scheme, the developer, Airvolution, undertook to establish a community fund of £15,000 per annum over the lifetime of the turbines (25 years). The monies will be administered by a national charity, Grantscape, that specialises in handling community funds. In addition to the £15,000 p.a., there is an additional one-off sum of £50,000 available for the first year only (2014). As part of the process, a local advisory panel will be set up to consider all applications for grants made by local organisations. The panel will comprise 7 people: one being the current Cornwall Councillor for the area; one being an appointee of Grampound with Creed Parish Council; 5 being residents elected by the electors in the parish. The panel will meet a few times each year to consider the grant applications and to recommend that any particular application be supported or not supported as they judge to be appropriate.

The monies will be available for: energy efficiency; training or education; projects for school aged children or older people; any other community project for the benefit of residents in the parish. It will be for the panel to decide what they think are suitable projects.

If you are interested in making sure that good local projects are supported, please think about putting yourself forward for the panel. If more than 5 persons put themselves forward, elections will be held using a postal voting system. To be eligible to be on the panel, you must be on the electoral register within the parish of Grampound with Creed. If you are not sure whether or not you are on the register, you can check with the parish clerk, with Bob Egerton (Cornwall Councillor) or with Cornwall Council electoral officers (see contact details below).

Another leaflet will be distributed in September, formally inviting residents to put themselves forward for the panel, together with details of how to apply and the timeline for the process.

If you have any questions on the scheme, please speak to Bob Egerton or Dean Jenkins who will be happy to explain more.

August 2013