But at least they’ve got cash for windmills

LESSONS may have been axed to save money but council chiefs still found more than £30,000 to replace broken wind turbines at a cash-strapped school.

Balfron High in Stirlingshire had to cut support staff and shorten the school day as part of budget savings. But the council is now spending £32,000 to replace two windmills in the grounds that have been lying dormant for four months.

The school was hailed as one of the first in Scotland to buy in its own green energy source, installed in 2009 with more than £39,000 of public money.

However, the two six-kilowatt turbines failed to qualify for the Government’s Feed-In Tariff (FIT) – which pays a dividend to small-scale green electricity generators – as they were built to the wrong specification and are now beyond repair. While an Ayrshire firm prepares for a bumper payday to remove and replace the turbines, the number of periods at Balfon High has been reduced and a staff post was scrapped in 2015 to save on costs.

Last night, Scottish Tory finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘If these funds are available for education, then many parents will be wondering whether they would be better spent in the classroom.’

But Stirling Council insisted the wind turbine project would eventually pay for itself by generating £80,000 of income in its lifetime, as well as providing education to pupils about energy and sustainability.