THE possibility of accessing wind energy – a clean renewable energy source – via wind turbines in the Frome area, is being explored by Frome Renewable Energy Co-op (FRECo).
The independent organisation, which was set up in 2014 to fund clean energy projects that benefit the local community, says that eight to 10 turbines are needed to meet Frome’s electricity demand – and that it could help Frome meet its commitment to be a carbon neutral town by 2030.
At last month’s Frome Town Council meeting, the council – who were a founding member of FRECo – agreed to write a letter of introduction for the organisation to link FRECo to local landowners and explore opportunities to harness wind energy. An initial request for the council to write a letter of support for FRECo’s project was amended by councillors, concerned that a letter of support would imply the council had already discussed and agreed to endorse wind power and a wind farm in the Frome area.
Cllr John Nelson said, “I don’t think our council should be endorsing wind power development in our local beautiful area, without doing some proper consultation.”
In response to concerns, resilience manager for Frome Town Council, Anna Francis, who is also chair of FRECo said, “If we are going to meet the target of being a zero carbon town by 2030, then we will have to have some wind turbines – we are not talking about hundreds, we are talking about a maximum of eight to ten.”
Cllr Lizzie Boyle, who is also a director of FRECo, added, “This is with my ‘FRECo hat’ on – FRECo wants to have these discussions with local landowners, and research work has begun to identify who these landowners are, and some scoping of potential areas of opportunity for wind turbines – because not everywhere works.
“The support we are looking for from Frome Town Council helps us open the door and makes an introduction for us. The outcome of any conversation cannot be predicted – no wind turbine has been built onshore in the south west for donkey’s years, because of planning restrictions at a much higher national level.
“This is the longest of long shots, and there’s a huge amount of consultation that would have to be done with local communities, the wider community, the Civil Aviation Authority; ecology and biodiversity studies; tonnes of stuff that has to happen before a wind turbine can go ahead – this letter is helping us to open the first door.”
For more information about FRECo and their local projects, visit: www.freco.org