Council’s wind ambitions take off

Photo: Jan Harwood

Wind turbine

Rochdale Borough Council approved a proposal at Monday’s Cabinet meeting to install a small wind turbine on council-owned land as a pilot exercise.

If satisfied the programme represents a good investment of public money, proposals will be brought forward to develop the wider programme of three medium-sized, and up to nine small, wind turbines which would deliver enough clean electricity to meet the needs of over 1,500 homes.

The Council would also develop proposals for one turbine to be made available for resident ownership through a community co-operative, in line with the borough’s heritage and ethos as the birthplace of co-operation.

The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) is supporting the council in the pilot. Paul O’Brien, Chief Executive of APSE, said: “Rochdale Borough Council’s work on wind power puts them at the forefront of the development of green technology nationally, and we congratulate them on having the foresight to do this.”

Councillor Colin Lambert, Leader of the Council, said: “This is the type of bold energy project that Rochdale should be pioneering on. We would be our own green-energy producers, saving council taxpayers money and reducing our carbon footprint. The project is a further step in our ambition to become country’s greenest borough.”

Jim Taylor, Chief Executive of Rochdale Borough Council, said: “This project represents a fantastic opportunity for the council to use the borough's natural resources to generate an income for the borough to help deliver essential services at a time of great financial challenge.”