Construction has now begun to produce what will be the biggest windfarm in the Mearns.
In the face of fierce protest, Eneco was granted planning approval by Aberdeenshire Council in autumn last year to extend the current seven-turbine windfarm at Tullo on top of Garvock Hill, an acclaimed beauty spot.
They then purchased the rights to develop an adjacent site, which will take the number of turbines along the hill ridge to 17.
Construction is expected to be complete by the end of October, with the windarm fully operational by early next year. It will have a generating capacity of 25 megawatts, sufficient to power more than 13,000 homes.
Over the last few years the windfarm has been involved in supporting numerous community initiatives through the community fund administered by the Mearns Area Partnership.
The beneficiaries of the 2013 fund have recently been announced and include Auchenblae parks committee, Mearns and Coastal Healthy Living Network, Arbuthnott Community Association, Laurencekirk Development Trust, Arbuthnott Parish Church, the Dickson Memorial Hall, Marykirk Village Hall and the Howe o’ the Mearns Pipe Band.
Announcing the increase of the community fund to around £86,000 a year, Daniel Badcock, Eneco’s development manager, said their contribution to the local economy made them feel a valued part of the community.
He said: “It is very important to us that our community benefit fund makes a real difference to the people living in the local area.
“We are delighted therefore that the Mearns Area Partnership is embarking on a research project designed to canvas local opinion on the value of past projects and their views on future funding priorities.
“This questionnaire-led engagement will take place during the next couple of months with the results shared prior to the next round of funding to be launched in the autumn.”
Chairwoman of the Mearns Area Partnership, Susie Brown, said 25 local groups across Kincardine and Mearns had now benefited from a share of money from the community fund money they would otherwise never have been able to access.
Applications to the fund were subject to a robust process to ensure distribution was fair.
“It is not just a case of hands up, who wants money,” she said.
She stressed there was no onus on a developer to make a community contribution, and she listed several other developers in the Mearns who did not give a penny.
“It is up to each developer, out of social conscience, whether they give something back to the community or not, and whether they do or not carries no weight when their applications go through the planning process.
“With another three applications in the pipeline, we could ultimately have 20 turbines along the ridge of the hill. But I think people have now become quite used to the sight of them there.”
However, leading protester John Stevenson remains of the view that whatever the community payback the damage to the environment is a price too high.
He said: “The community fund is very much a tool of the developer because if you object to a site you lose the right to receive anything back.
“In any event, any investment in a community fund is peanuts in relation to the vast sums these windfarms earn, and it is taxpayers’ money in the first place since it comes out of the development subsidies paid.”