by tresoc | May 15, 2014 | Latest TRESOC News
This is exactly the kind of help we need! An offer at the Tagore Festival from a potential new member to arrange a presentation to 130 hospital staff at Torbay Hospital. As a result, we’ll be speaking at lunchtime on 2nd July in the Horizon Centre about our journey, the success of Leatside, why Community Energy is the clean, healthy way for us, collectively, to take a stake in our energy future and why this Share Offer is a really important opportunity. Where do you work? Who do you know? TREC Lecture Theatre, Horizon Centre, Torbay Hospital, 12-2pm on Wednesday 2nd July. Open to all.
by tresoc | May 14, 2014 | Latest TRESOC News
TRESOC had a presence at the 3-day festival and thoroughly enjoyed the range of conversations we had with members and potential investors. Lots of interest in the Totnes Weir project and suggestions for other projects that we could undertake… if we meet our Share Issue target. Invest and help us treat nature with respect. Quote from Satish Kumar: “Let’s get rid of the isms and make them wasms”. Next: Ways With Words, 5th-13th July. Volunteer on our stall in the reading tent!
by tresoc | May 13, 2014 | Latest TRESOC News
TRESOC has received a very positive response to the historic Staverton Leat project. Julian Sharpe of the Dart Anglers Association has said, “I am very, very keen to see this scheme happen, and my beloved fish protected.” A member of the Staverton Leat Working Group added, “This is the best answer to our problems”. See the latest project update.
by tresoc | May 12, 2014 | Latest TRESOC News
MD Ian Bright was a guest speaker on 16th May at the RTPI SW Conference on Planning for Renewable Energy at Plymouth University. Ian was asked to share learning from the TRESOC experience of community energy and the planning system and spoke on “TRESOC and the Totnes Community Wind Farm: a case study” – RTPI TCWF RTPI Presentation
The event was well attended by planners from across the South West, including a strong contingent from South Hams District Council. It was encouraging to see planners engaging with the UK renewable energy agenda, although the outlook for large wind turbines in the planning system remains bleak. New guidance from the Dept. for Communities and Local Government on engaging with local communities in wind farm developments is expected soon. Meanwhile, TRESOC is concentrating on other, less contentious renewable energy technologies in solar and hydro for the 2014 Share Issue.
Ian says, “It was good to have the chance to tell our side of the TCWF story to SW planners, and to say what we did next. A good working relationship with local government is key to the success of community energy enterprises like TRESOC. Thanks also to the SHDC planners who gave me a lift home!”
by tresoc | May 3, 2014 | Latest Share Offer
We were out in full force at the market today, talking to lots of people about our Share Issue, and collecting proxy votes for our SGM on May 22nd (the proposal is boundary removal). Matt Harvey’s poem, “To whom does Energy Belong?” written for our Share Issue launch, adorned the columns of the Butterwalk. First performed at South Brent’s Third Folk Festival, Matt’s poem proclaims:
“For when it shines and when it pours
– On one or both we can depend –
The good accrues to you and yours
When you’re TRESOC’s all-weather friend…”
Download Matt’s poem
by tresoc | May 1, 2014 | Membership
As we approach the opening of our Share Issue, we have an important bit of business to conduct. Find out why removing our boundary makes sense at this point in our evolution and cast your vote at a Special General Meeting: Thursday 22nd May at 7pm, Totnes Boating Association, Steamer Quay Road, Totnes, TQ9 5AL.
Please join us, with tea/coffee/nibbles provided. RSVP by emailing admin@tresoc.co.uk. A full set of our existing rules found at the bottom of the page here or contact us if you would like a copy.
Proxy Form only
Explanatory letter to members with Proxy Form
SGM Agenda including the proposed rule change
by tresoc | Apr 18, 2014 | Latest TRESOC News
Many thanks to The Naturesave Trust who have awarded TRESOC £250 towards the cost of printing our 2014 Share Issue prospectus. The Trust was set up in 1995 to fund specific environmental and conservation projects throughout the UK. It obtains 100% of its funds from the premiums generated by Naturesave Insurance, which uses the insurance industry as a vehicle for sustainable development. The primary function of the Trust is to encourage the greater adoption of sustainable development, especially within the Small and Medium Sized business community.
by tresoc | Apr 3, 2014 | Membership
The maximum share investment in an IPS has increased from £20k to £100k. The Industrial and Provident Societies (Increase in Shareholding Limit) Order 2014 sets out the details.
by tresoc | Apr 3, 2014 | Membership
Fantastic turn-out upstairs at the Kingsbridge Inn at our Share Issue brainstorm session. We got all the things we wished for – questions, feedback, ideas, enthusiasm and commitment. Ideas ranged from bike-based promotion to on-site, interpretive signage, plus signed-up commitment to host a social gathering and leaflet neighbourhoods. Without our members’ help at this stage, projects that are ready to go simply might not happen. There’s no doubt, even amongst those who wondered about the wind turbines, that investing in Community Energy makes environmental, social and financial sense.
by tresoc | Mar 27, 2014 | Latest Blog Post
We’re kicking off the discussion with great news about our 1 MW for Totnes & District Share Issue. Those of you who came to the AGM in December will know that following refusal of the Totnes Community Wind Farm planning application last year (see previous blog entry) we’ve been extra busy with other projects. All this hard work is now paying off in the form of new consented solar pv and hydro power projects. Specifically, we have reached agreement with South Devon Rural Housing Association to install solar panels on all of their suitable properties. The Survey work is nearly complete and over 100 households will soon enjoy a source of free electricity, helping out some of those most at risk of fuel poverty and supporting growth in the local economy through our project partnership with BECO Solar. TRESOC will benefit from the Feed in Tariff income, enabling payment of dividends to our members.
We’ve also secured agreement with Dart Renewables for a £500,000 community investment in the hydro project at Totnes Weir, and more at other hydro power sites on the Rivers Teign and Dart. With extra solar schemes in the pipeline this adds up to a TRESOC investment package in consented local renewable energy projects with a combined value of more than £1.5 million.
With the Government’s Community Energy Strategy and other measures supporting growth in community renewables this is a huge opportunity for local people to earn a healthy income from large and small investments in local renewable energy installations. It will also provide TRESOC with working capital to develop more projects in solar, hydro and various forms of biomass – and who knows – maybe another wind project one day!
We’re finishing off the detailed legal agreements necessary to realise these fantastic opportunities in our Share Issue, scheduled for April. Meanwhile, we’ll keep you informed of progress and look forward to hearing more from our members.
Many thanks and best wishes to all TRESOC members and supporters,
Ian Bright, Managing Director
by tresoc | Mar 24, 2014 | Latest Share Offer
TRESOC’s 2014 Spring Share Issue is set to kick off on 3rd May. All our hard work is now paying off in the form of solar PV (for roofs) and hydropower projects including PV on the roofs of over 70 households (with South Devon Rural Housing Association) and a £500,000 community investment in the hydro project at Totnes Weir. With the two PV schemes that we own at Leatside Surgery and Follaton Community Centre, these would get us to over 750 Kilowatts of generating capacity, come rain or shine – a fantastic goal to aim for. How can you help? Get in touch!
by tresoc | Mar 6, 2014 | Latest Blog Post
The founder members of the Totnes Renewable Energy Society were, and still are, an ambitious bunch of people. The sheer scale of the challenges of dealing with climate change and fossil fuel depletion demand big solutions. Nor can the laws of physics be denied, and the simple fact is that wind turbines offer the most abundant and cost effective source of renewable energy available to us.
Finding suitable sites for wind turbines that meet planning and commercial criteria is a specialist job and a very great deal of professional expertise is needed to prepare a planning application. And so, in 2008, soon after the formation of the Society in 2007, we contacted Dorset based wind developer, Infinergy, to ask if they would be interested to work with a local community owned renewable energy society to explore the possibility of wind power for Totnes and the surrounding parishes.
When Infinergy ran their wind prospecting software they found, as other wind developers have found before them; that the best local site for wind development, taking all planning criteria into account, is at Luscombe Cross. There followed 18 months of careful and confidential negotiation with the Agent before all agreements were signed and the first TRESOC share issue was launched in 2010.
Infinergy confirmed that, taking all planning criteria into consideration it was the best site for wind development. It has been a 6 year journey of discovery and steep learning curves for everyone involved. From the first desktop studies to find the best site for a wind turbine, contacting the land agent, negotiating legal agreements and preparing the planning application. We are rightly proud of the quality of the work that was done by TRESOC working in close partnership with a highly skilled and well-motivated team of wind development professionals. Sir Jonathan Porritt, in his letter of support, describes the Totnes Community Wind Farm Planning Application as “one of the best designed and well supported applications we have seen” Not good enough though for the local planning authority who turned it down on the grounds of the view. We had steeled ourselves for rejection by the local authority but were not prepared Infinergy’s decision not to appeal.
The choice to develop a large scale wind energy as the first project amongst our portfolio was a conscious choice. It remains the most cost-effective way of generating renewable energy and we had identified the best suitable site in our locality with the help of the developer. This was an excellent investment opportunity for our members and would be a significant generator locally.
The substantial public engagement that we provided raised the profile of the development locally. With the benefit of hindsight, this unintentionally hindered the project, as it enabled local opposition to organise and gain strength earlier than in a normal planning application. However we don’t believe that this should have been done in a different way. The whole point of community renewable energy is to engage the local population and increase awareness whilst providing social and financial benefits.
Totnes Community wind farm has given us a good degree of experience from which we have learnt from. We want the embryonic community energy industry to gain from our insights, so if you have any questions please get in touch.
Ian Bright
Managing Director
View the Totnes Community Wind Farm project on our website.
