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NEWS: WIND TURBINE UPDATE On Saturday the 19th November 2005, a public meeting was held and the results of an island wide vote about the wind turbine announced. " 61% of people on the electoral roll voted. " 83.5% of people who voted were in favour of the project being progressed. Work now continues to move the project towards a planning application. Tiree Community Conference 2004 Over 150 people turned out to make the day a memorable achievement, right through from the formal agenda of the morning and afternoon to the celebratory ceilidh lasting to the early hours of the next day.
The Tiree Community Conference focused on all the comments and ideas provided by the community over the last 12 months, comments that have now been turned into practical initiatives and projects intended to address some of the key underlying issues affecting Tiree’s future. The question on the day was - “What did people think of them?” Please follow the links below for more information: Presentations: 2) Other News Download the document "Senior Crofting Officials Visit Tiree" Tiree Socio Economic Study Tiree Wind Energy - Tiree is to be the focus of the latest study by Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Energy Agency ( ALI energy). Over the years, many people have wondered how the wind resource could be put to use to generate power for the wider benefit of the local population. Advances in wind turbine technology could mean that now is the time to start exploiting the resource to generate not just electricity, but cash for the islanders. ALI energy attended a public meeting of the Tiree Development Partnership last year at which many islanders expressed widespread interest in seeing renewable energy technology being used to benefit their community. Since then ALI energy has been looking at the options for the community to become involved in such schemes and to gain from the revenue that can be generated. Steven Watson, Manager of ALI energy remarked ' ALI energy has developed renewable energy schemes elsewhere in Argyll for community benefit. The position on Tiree may be different, especially if we can broker a partnership between the Community and private interests. In the Shetlands a major wind power project intends to produce a secure income for community activities on the islands. We want to see what can work for Tiree's benefit.' The new study will be undertaken by Perth based windpower expert Dr Colin Anderson. Dr Anderson was instrumental in the development of the two wind turbine on the Isle of Luing. After a successful year with the first wind turbine on Luing, the second one has just been erected at the end of January. He will visit Tiree and look at the various constraints of grid, environment and wind resource, and will consider possible available sites in detail before presenting his findings to the community. The costs of the study are being met by the Community Energy Unit, part of the Scottish Communities and Householder Renewables Initiative managed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Steven Watson added 'Tiree is probably too small in terms of power useage to attract a major developer. We think that a joint venture between the community and local business interests will be worthwhile exploring.' The study will start in March and is costing £7500. It will cover technical, planning, environmental and civil engineering matters. Tiree Development news can also be found at: www.isleoftiree.net |
