September 7, 2013
Scotland

Forfar golfers vote for turbine cash benefits

By Martin Dalziel, 7 September 2013 | www.thecourier.co.uk

The face of Forfar’s golf course could soon change following the submission of plans to build a 77m high wind turbine at the back of the site.

The proposals have been lodged with Angus Council by A. Craig Architectural Consultants on behalf of Harmony Energy Ltd – a Yorkshire renewable energy business – and could see the club benefit from around £600,000 of Scottish Government subsidies if they are approved.

An EGM was held with the club’s 60 committee members to discuss the plan and a majority of 47 voted in favour of it.

Club president David Soutar said that the money from the Government could help secure the future of the club and its facilities in the face of dwindling memberships and rising costs across the Scottish golf scene.

“This came about because golf clubs are facing quite a challenging time,” said Mr Soutar.

“Membership numbers are falling but, as is the case with every business, your costs go up all the time.

“What we are looking to do is get a strong revenue stream.

“We asked ourselves, ‘what can this do for the club’ and the answer is that it will allow us to inherit over £600,000 in net income from the Scottish Government’s renewables incentive.

“The majority of our members are very much in favour of the scheme and it means that we won’t have to put up fees over the years and allows us to reinvest that money in the club.”

The plans include the construction of the structure, measuring 50m to hub height and 77m to blade tip, and an injection of cash to Forfar community projects totalling £40,000 over the life span of the turbine (20 years).

The structure would be visible on certain holes and from parts of the surrounding area.

Peter Kavanagh, director of Harmony Energy Ltd, said that the turbine represents a long term investment with significant environmental benefits.

The proposed turbine has a capacity of 500kW which can achieve a predicted generation of approximately 1900MWh per annum.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/09/07/forfar-golfers-vote-for-turbine-cash-benefits/