We really value our relationship with the local communities near our sites. Nowhere is this more the case than

in South Lakeland where we are constructing the Armistead Wind Farm

and developing plans for a wind farm beside the M6 at Killington.

Armistead & KillingtonWind Farm ProjectsCommunity Update

We are investing heavily in your community, supporting local businesses through construction and design work and delivering community benefits through our Banks Community Fund. By investing in renewable energy, we are helping to tackle climate change whilst supporting the UK’s urgent need to generate our own clean, green energy.

There is plenty to update you on for both our sites and we hope you will find this newsletter helpful and interesting. We are always keen to hear from you and you can find our contact details on the back page.

Keeping you in the know

www.banksgroup.co.uk

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Met MastOur planning application for a wind monitoring mast was approved by the planning committee at South Lakeland District Council on 28 June with only one councillor objecting.

We are really grateful for the support we received from the local community for this application. The parishioners of Killington voted 21 to 14 in favour of the wind mast application and there were no planning objections from any other parish councils.

The wind mast will measure wind speed at different heights which will help us select the most effective turbines for the site. The mast will be located on land owned by the Killington Charities so they will receive additional income from rent to spend on the people of Killington Parish. We hope to install the mast in the next few weeks.

Thank you for your support!

Why Killington• Local charities will benefi t directly as landowners

• Located away from areas of population

• Close to existing infrastructure including a motorway, quarry and existing wind farm

• Excellent access and grid connection

• An area that boasts some of the best wind resources in Europe

• Contours of the surrounding landscape will help to reduce the visual impact of the proposal on nearby areas

Consultation• We had our fi rst exhibition for the Killington Wind Farm on

18 April and we invited the community to attend through a leafl et delivered to over 2000 homes in the area.

• 76 people attended the exhibition to meet our staff and fi nd out what the wind farm means for them. We were really pleased with the positive feedback we received and we are always keen to hear from those who were unable to make it on the day.

• Since then we have been talking to the local parish councils and parish meetings in the area to get their feedback on our proposals. We have also met with a variety of local groups and organisations based in the area to identify ways that they can benefi t from the wind farm going ahead.

• We are also keen to hear from local businesses who would like to bid for contracts with us. Page 5 has more details of the local businesses benefi ting from the construction of our Armistead wind farm.

• We will send you another newsletter soon with details of the fi nal wind farm design and to invite you to a second exhibition to see visualisations of how the wind farm would look.

Killington update Community benefi tsSatellite Broadband We have been talking to Connecting Cumbria, the Local Area Partnerships and Parish Broadband Champions about delivering satellite broadband to homes and businesses in the parishes near to the Killington wind farm site. We are currently undertaking a feasibility study to assess the current levels of service and the costs involved with installing satellite broadband receivers across the area. The results of this study and the fi nal details of the broadband package will be presented at our second public exhibition which we will be announcing shortly.

Fuel PovertyWe have also been talking to Killington Sustainable Energy Trust, Cumbria Action for Sustainability and Cumbria Warm Homes about helping local residents to make their homes more energy effi cient and save money on their energy bills. We already have some ideas about how to do this and will have more details at our next exhibition.

In addition to this, we have arranged for a number of free energy audits to be carried out on local community buildings. These audits will identify a range of free, low-cost and higher-cost measures that the halls can implement to help knock £100s off their annual energy bills.

The Banks Community Fund is our national charity that supports community projects across the country with grants towards capital projects.

In your area we have already donated over £100,000 towards the following projects:

Old Hutton Footpath £67,000 to complete the village footpath project

Holme Youth Club £20,000 for new tennis courts

Preston Patrick Memorial Hall £12,000 towards fi xing the roof

Endmoor People’s Park £7,000 for new play equipment

Endmoor Village Hall £5,400 for improvements to the village hall

St John’s Church, Old Hutton £5,000 for improvements to the church

We have had interest from a range of other groups in your area and if you are involved with any community projects we would love to hear from you.

The Armistead Wind Farm Community Fund will make a further £12,300 available to local groups each year and we are accepting applications for this fund right now. For details of how to apply please contact Barry Grimes using the details on the back page.

BanksCommunityFund

Energy audits help identify how to reduce energy bills

If the Killington wind farm is approved, it would generate an additional community

fund of up to £17,000 a year.

Construction timetableJULY & AUGUST Concrete pours for turbine foundations

SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER Delivery and erection of turbines

NOVEMBER Turbine testing and commissioning

DECEMBER Wind farm fully commissioned

Armistead updateWith the fi rst turbine

expected to go up in September here is a

summary of how work will progress over the

coming months

Deliveries to the siteConcrete deliveries During July and August there will be six separate days of concrete deliveries for the six turbine foundations. Each concrete pour will require about 36 wagon loads across the day with approximately a week between each foundation pour.

The concrete wagons are following a circular route (see plan below) which has been approved by the Highways Department at Cumbria County Council and the wagons will be limited to 15mph when passing through Old Hutton.

The fi rst delivery took place on Monday 16 July and the other fi ve deliveries are programmed to take place before the end of the school holidays.

Turbine deliveries The six turbines will be delivered to site in September and October and each one is made up of the following components:

• 3 x tower sections • 1 x hub • 1 x nacelle • 3 x turbine blades

The tower sections, hubs and nacelles will be delivered on low-loader HGVs and the turbine blades will be delivered on specially designed trailers and delivered in convoys of three.

Due to their size, the HGVs will not follow the circular route back through Gatebeck and will return through Old Hutton and Oxenholme. Signs will be put up to make passing motorists aware of the exact delivery dates and there will also be travel updates on BBC Radio Cumbria.

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Local contractorsDuring the construction of the Armistead wind farm we have kept our promise to use local businesses for large amounts of the work. This has ensured that millions of pounds of investment has been made into the local economy. Below are just some of the local businesses that have benefi ted from being involved in the wind farm construction:

• Kendal based contractor Cox & Allen has built the control building

• Concrete has been sourced from Holme Park Quarry

• Stone has been sourced from Holmescales Quarry

• Agrilek, based in Barrow, is the main electrical sub-contractor for the site

• Local builders merchants have provided a range of raw materials

• Some construction staff have been made to feel at home in local B&Bs in Kirkby Lonsdale

Old Hutton Footpath The Old Hutton footpath was designed by Kendal-based fi rm Burgess Roughton and the construction has been carried out by Cumbrian fi rm, Thomas Armstrong Ltd. The Banks Community Fund awarded £67,000 to Old Hutton Parish Council to complete the footpath project and it is due to open to the public in time for the new school term.

Engineers installing a wind turbine (Image courtesy of REPower)

Turbine foundation concrete pour

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If you would like to receive advance notifi cation of the dates for concrete and turbine deliveries then please contact us using the details on the back page. We will be happy to e-mail or call you when

future dates are confi rmed.

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Turbine locations

Site access route from M6

Site exit route to M6 (except some abnormal vehicles)

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In case we haven’t met yet

Why do we need wind farms?

Banks Renewables is part of the Banks Group.

At Banks Renewables we provide renewable energy

solutions that help meet our society’s demand for

energy in a sustainable and considerate way.

Your personal contact

You may already have met Barry Grimes, your development relations coordinator for our Armistead and Killington sites. He’s already well known in your community and is always keen to hear from you how you’d like your local area to benefit – environmentally, socially and economically – from our projects. If you would like to ask any questions and share your views you can write to or e-mail Barry at the address on the back cover of this newsletter.

We’d love to hear from you.

Development with care is at the heart of our way of working, and it’s proven in every one of our projects by actions, more so than words. Respect and consideration for your environment, your community and our customers, employees and suppliers are at the centre of everything we do.

• Wind farms are the most proven form of renewable energy generation and are essential tools in tackling climate change.

• Within the next 20 years the indigenous fossil fuels we use to provide our energy will become scarcer and we will become ever more reliant on imports from overseas.

• The Department of Energy and Climate Change has confirmed that one of the main reasons our energy bills are rising is the increasing global demand for, and cost of, wholesale gas and coal.

• In the region of 60% of the coal used to generate electricity is imported.

• Electricity suppliers are legally required to purchase a certain amount of renewable energy in order to support its development for the future. In 2011 this cost the average household just £1.42 a month.

Barry Grimes Development Relations Coordinator

100m to tip turbines at West Durham Wind Farm

Generated in Britain, benefiting Britain• Byfieldingarobustmixofenergyproduction

methods including wind, solar and nuclear power the UK will be far more self-reliant and less dependent on foreign supplies

• Thiswillcreatemorejobsandboostoureconomy,both locally and nationally. The UK onshore wind industry currently employs around 4,100 people

• Awindfarmwillpaybacktheenergyusedtoconstruct it within approximately 7-8 months. After that, the electricity generated is a carbon-free source of power

• Onshorewindispredictedtobethecheapestsource of electricity by 2020* *Source: Sustainable Development Commission

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HJB/TA711/039. Published July 2012. Printed on paper from sustainable sources. © The Banks Group Ltd 2012. All rights reserved.

Sharing our expertise• WITH PROFESSIONALS

Localism conference in Carlisle - We were invited by the Leader of South Lakeland District Council to address the Cumbria Housing Forum on the best ways to engage with communities.

• WITH COLLEGES Climate Jobs Fair in Lancaster - We had a stall at a jobs fair for students at Lancaster & Morecambe College to help them fi nd out about the different types of jobs available in onshore wind farm development.

• WITH SECONDARY SCHOOLS Future Jobs Foundation in Darlington – We ran workshops with Year 8 students on how to select and design wind farm sites and to advise them on what GCSE options to take in order to pursue a future career in renewable energy.

• WITH PRIMARY SCHOOLS My Money Week in Durham - We led classes at our local primary school to educate the children about how to manage a budget and to advise them on how to run their tuck shop projects.

If you would like staff from Banks Renewables to lead sessions or give presentations to your local school, college or community group then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Get in touchWRITE: Banks Renewables Inkerman House, St John’s Road, Meadowfi eld, Durham DH7 8XL

EMAIL: armistead@banksgroup.co.uk

killington@banksgroup.co.uk

CALL: 0191 378 6100

0844 209 1515*

CLICK: www.banksgroup.co.uk

*Calls to 0844 numbers are charged at local rate from a BT landline, charges from other providers and mobile networks may vary.

Banks Renewables is pleased to be supporting the Westmorland Gazette Business Awards.

We are sponsoring the Green Business Award.