Westmill Wind Farm
Wiltshire is often thought of as a wealthy rural area that is almost Home counties, but not quite. Considered conservative by nature and not the hotbed of radical ideas - that happens in Cornwall and west Wales, doesn't it?
Not the case with Westmill Wind Farm. The first co-operatively owned wind farm in the south of the UK, it's situated on an organic farm owned by Adam Twine, NE of Swindon. Not an area known for its high wind speeds and a long way from the coast... But this didn't stop the enthusiasm of the Westmill group in rasing funds in 2004 to finance the erection of the five 49m high turbines.
Estimates are that enough electricity is produced from these turbines to power around 2,500 homes. But the fact that they are entirely owned by over 2,000 Co-op members is an entirely new and progressive way of generating electricity in local areas.
On 10th June Westmill are running a really interesting day for farmers to go and learn about all the renewable energy options available to landowners or tenants, and a chance to view at first hand the wind farm.
Visit the Westmill Wind Farm website here and the event details are here on the Farm Carbon Cutting toolkit website.
- Scilly Organics's blog
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