Llangollen to share in £750,000 a year community fund

* One of the giant turbines for the wind farm being driven through Llangollen.

Llangollen is set to be part of a community fund, worth over £750,000 a year, set up to share the benefits a major wind farm project.

The Clocaenog Forest Wind Farm Community Investment Fund has been established to enable communities around the farm to benefit from the proceeds of the electricity it generates.  

Llangollen was originally excluded from the areas to reap the rewards but has now been added to the list following some intense lobbying.

A statement from Innogy, which operates the wind farm, says: “Following careful consideration, we have chosen to extend the boundary for the fund on the Denbighshire side of the wind farm. This has no impact on the priority zone 1 which remains unchanged, along with the principle that no sound project in that zone will miss out to the wider area.”

Amongst those who campaigned for the area’s inclusion were Llangollen’s two county councillors, Graham Timms and Mel Mile.

They both wrote to get Llangollen in the area and also encouraged others to do the same. 

In a joint statement they say: "When we saw that Llangollen was just outside the area of benefit we appealed to Innogy which owns the windfarm to rethink the boundary.

“We also persuaded Denbighshire County Council to join us in arguing our case. After all, the town suffered significant disruption on every day during the first six months of the year as all the turbines passed through with police escort on their A5 on their journey to Clocaenog.

"We are delighted that our appeal has been accepted and that Llangollen is now included in the area, giving our community the opportunity to apply for support for local projects from an annual £750,000 fund. Llangollen will enjoy the benefit of the support for the next 25 years that the fund will operate."

More information about the fund can be found at www.innogy.com/clocaenogforest.