Preparatory works on the Ray Wind Farm near Kirkwhelpington are to start later this month. Vattenfall will also begin engagement with local residents to discuss the best way in which to invest a 20-year community fund worth around £250,000 per year. The five-month consultation will gather views on the best way to organise the fund and find out what local residents think the index-linked payment should be invested in.
The 54.4 MW wind farm is expected to generate enough power per year to meet the equivalent annual electricity demand of over 30,000 UK households.
“It’s good to get underway with the Ray Wind Farm construction project” said Vattenfall construction manager Paul Nickless. “Throughout the 18-month build we will ensure local residents are kept up to date with construction activity. This is an exciting engineering exercise and we hope people will take a lot of interest in what we are doing.”
Joanne Hutchinson, Vattenfall’s Senior Communications Adviser, added that the company wants to start talking to people about the community fund in August. From 2017, Vattenfall will pay £250,000 per year into the fund. This is a large amount of money and to ensure it’s put to the best possible local use the company needs to start preparations for that now. Ms Hutchinson is calling for local people to get involved and register their interest in the fund and the construction of the wind farm via the freepost form or the Vattenfall website.
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