Windfarm project helps support the unemployed
A renewables employability initiative is to be extended with contributions from Kype Muir Wind Farm.
The Connect2renewables (C2R) scheme – which already benefits communities around the Middle Muir Wind Farm – aims to maximise the social, economic and environmental benefit of their wind farms to the local communities.
Kype Muir, which has been developed by Banks Renewables and began producing electricity this summer, is expected to bring more than £11 million in community benefit funding over its 25-year lifespan.
An annual contribution of £442,000 will begin this year and, for the first five years, half will be used to fund the C2R initiative with the other half split between South Lanarkshire Council’s renewable energy fund (REF) and the Kype Muir Community Partnership (KMCP).
C2R will help unemployed people who require support for skills development within 10km of Kype Muir – including Strathaven, Stonehouse, Glassford, Kirkmuirhill, Blackwood, Sandford, Chapelton, Coalburn and Lesmahagow.
In a report to the council’s community and enterprise resources committee, executive director Michael Mcglynn said: “Through discussions with the developer, Banks Renewables, who also constructed Middle Muir Wind Farm, it has been agreed that 50 per cent of each of REF and the KMCP’S community benefit package will fund the expansion of the C2R employability programme.
“C2R will initially receive five annual payments from Kype Muir after which time there will be a review to determine whether this will continue or whether all community benefit funding received will then be managed through the Renewable Energy Fund and the KMCP for community use. The C2R employability programme will be targeted to the unemployed and/or individuals who require support for skills development, and reside within a 10km radius of the Wind Farm development.
“The programme will seek to widen participation within this part of rural South Lanarkshire addressing key challenges in terms of access to employability services.”