Press Release: North Walsham is going Green!

A group of local people wanting to do something positive to reduce the carbon footprint for North Norfolk has a plan to bring wind turbines to North Walsham.

The group is the North Norfolk Environment Forum which has been in existence for several years holding regular meetings on green issues of all sorts and attracting a large following. Nuclear power, biofuels and genetically modified foods are some of the topics which have been discussed. Meetings have been addressed by local experts and much interest and debate has been generated.

Now the generation of real power for the good of the community is on the agenda with plans to erect three community turbines just outside North Walsham.

The group has been looking for a suitable site for a wind project for some time and has focused on the location at North Walsham because it seems to satisfy all the requirements. North Norfolk planners have been consulted and the people living near to the site have been approached for their views which have been largely supportive.

The proposed site starts behind Wall Engineering and stretches north-west out of town beyond Focus DIY, between the railway line and the A149.

The turbines will have a maximum height of 80m to the hub with blades reaching up to 130m. The actual turbines for the project have not been chosen yet but estimates of cost are being compared.

Turbines of this size generate up to 2.5 MW each. The green power that they would generate is equivalent to a saving of at least 13,560 tonnes of CO2 emission each year and enough power for 3,300 homes - over half of the homes in North Walsham.

Planning consent has already been given for a mast to gather wind data. This mast will be put up on the Wall Engineering site and will collect wind-speed information for up to a year. Although we all know how windy it is on the way out to Cromer, precise information is needed to show that the income from the turbines will be enough to repay the cost of their construction.

What makes this project special is that most of the profits will be fed back into the community instead of going out of the area as is the case with most wind turbines. The Forum wants this to be a truly local project so that North Walsham can benefit directly and have money to spend on local improvements.

There will be an opportunity for local people to invest in the project too, small amounts or large. The Forum promises that local people will have priority and everybody will have a chance to feel connected with their turbines and feel that they are helping to keep the world cool!

To encourage children in North Walsham schools to ‘think green’ - something that will be increasingly important in coming years - the Forum intends to hook-up turbine performance data to the internet to show just how much power is being made so that the turbines can be part of school projects etc. Schools anywhere in the world could also access this information.

The company that is being formed to manage the turbine finances will be called UnityWind and will be run by local people. UnityWind will co-ordinate investments and also the distribution of benefits to North Walsham as they ‘blow in’!

Right now £15,000 is needed for the wind-speed mast. If any local businesses or individuals would like to help with that cost please contact Alicia Hull on 01263 761471.

If this project is successful, the Forum, through UnityWind, hopes to set up further similar projects to create more renewable energy and to benefit more communities.

You can meet Forum members at the North Walsham Community Centre on the 18th of April at 7pm to find out more.

A website www.UnityWind.com is being set up to share information as the project develops. You can leave a comment and you will also be able to register to be informed when capital for the project is needed.