The North Walsham Project

We were offered our first site in North Walsham early in 2006. We had it evaluated by the Community Renewables Initiative and a local professional wind farm developer. Both assessed it as potentially a viable site.

We spoke to the planning department at North Norfolk District Council who also thought it potentially a viable site, subject to a number of surveys they would need for the planning process. We were granted planning permission for a met mast to measure wind strength for a year.

Community Consultation

With the support of the local Area Partnership, The Griffin Partnership, we consulted local people. This entailed visiting houses within a short distance of the potential site, writing to all the local town and district councillors, and to the surrounding parish councils, an article in the local paper, a leaflet distributed widely in the town and surrounding villages and a public meeting in April 2007. At the public meeting some worries were expressed, especially about possible noise and electrical interference, but the majority supported the project. A similar level of support was shown by local residents.

We also set up the website UnityWind.com. This invited people to be ’helpers’ by offering risk investment, which would be repaid at three times the value if the project succeeded. We received one investment of £500. Several responded interested in investing once planning permission was gained, and there were other offers of risk investment which depended on a comprehensive business plan.

Business Plan

Our next task was to develop this business plan and access grants for a met mast and for the other surveys we needed. Our directors had little success in this, but in August 2007, we were joined by Jon Bell of The Energy Mix, another not-for-profit company, who was experienced at accessing grants. We agreed that any grants he accessed for us would be repaid from profits and his company would reinvest the money in energy efficiency schemes in the area.

Grants

With Jon Bell's help we received £15,000 from Eeda late in 2007. This has been used to secure the site at North Walsham with an option and lease agreements. It also means we have generic option and lease agreements to use on other sites. The remaining grant money is mostly to be used for a grid survey at whichever scheme is first to develop.

Surveys and Complications

The North Walsham scheme is dependent on the approval of the MoD (inistry of Defence) because of the radar system at Trimingham. We first expected that they would have upgraded their equipment to account for turbines by March 2008, but trials were postponed and eventually conducted during August and September 2008.

Our North Norfolk MP, Norman Lamb, had intervened on our behalf. He helped earlier in 2008 to get us confirmation that the trials were progressing.

An article in the EDP in December 2008 claimed that the trials were successful and this would allow the Sheringham off-shore development to take place. In April 2009 the MoD finally conceded that a single wind turbine at North Walsham (of the size stated) would not cause any problems.

During 2008 we got a list of the surveys North Norfolk District Council would require for a planning application, and we have found companies able to carry them out and had them costed. Most estimates we had had from a variety of sources were that these pre-planning survey costs would be in the region of £100,000. The quotes we received were very reasonable so that the total cost is likely to be approximately half that.

Jon Bell had warned us that the met mast would be the most difficult thing to get a grant for as it is a capital asset. We were very lucky in being given a 50m met mast by the Olympic Village in August 2008. We obtained planning permission in mid 2009 for a temporary erection of the mast. The erection, data collection and subsequent vandalism of the mast ultimately led us to a surprising result that we could share weather data from another site, 10km away near Stalham. This meant that the feasibility of the site, in terms of electricity generation capability, was assured and that we could confidently plough on with other surveys.

» New Possibilities
» Gallery
» Location
» Visual Impact Survey