Categories
And The Next Thing is ... CGDT & CGCC

Community Windturbines for Colintraive & Glendaruel take a small step forward with CGDT

Last night at the presentation by CGDT’s consultants Locogen Ltd. in the Colintraive Village Hall,  those assembled moved that we  progress to the next stage of the process which will hopefully result in the construction of three wind turbines for the community on Stronafian Forest.

Over the next couple of weeks Locogen will finalise and submit a planning application for a Meteorological Mast on site in the forest to test the wind speeds available. The mast will provide the community a clear indication as to whether the development will be economically worthwhile. Alongside this the environmental and landscape impact surveys will continue, and the Development Trust board will report progress on the project in full at the AGM on the 20th July which of course the entire commuinty is invited to.

In the meantime, the trust will be publishing the presentation on the CGDT website shortly, along with an opportunity to ask questions both of the board and the consultants. We’re also happy to make presentations to any group in the community who want to know more.

As readers may remember, the development of a wind turbine was a key element of the Stronafian Forest Plan developed by the CGDT consultant Munro Gauld, and will provide for the longterm sustainability of our community. In his research for this project, CGDT director Bill Carlow has calculated that a single turbine will offset all electricity use in ColGlen entirely – that is reduce our carbon footprint to 0 tonnes for all household electricity.

Bill went further, and to offset all our energy use, including transport, business use and construction, we only require three turbines (our ideal solution for this project). In other words, for this community we can, in one fell swoop, cancel out all the carbon we emit as well as provide for an income which will ensure we are sustainable longterm.

Categories
And The Next Thing is ... CGDT & CGCC

Community Broadband in Colintraive & Glendaruel takes a step closer with decision to move to Phase 2

On Thursday night a meeting of over 50 residents of Colintraive and Glendaruel agreed to take the next step towards improving the parlous broadband provision in ColGlen. With Community Broadband Scotland’s help (ably represented by Campbell Cameron on the night) those present tasked the Development Trust to take the community into the feasibility phase of the process which began with a scoping study carried out over the last three months.

The Scoping study, available here, shows what we already knew – very few people achieve more than a .5MB connection on the present service. There is an appetite for a better level of connectivity and a frustration with the present service.

The meeting discussed what is happening at a national level, how we are placed in that, and when BT might get around to upgrading our service themselves. Once the feasibility study is in place the community can then make an informed decision as to whether we should move forward with our own project or await BT’s own provision sometime in 2016.

 

 

Categories
And The Next Thing is ... CGDT & CGCC

Important community meetings for CGDT: on broadband and renewables

windoposterTwo dates for your diary if you are resident in Colintraive and Glendaruel:

  • There’s a meeting on Local Broadband provision this Thursday, 15th May at 6pm in Colintraive Village Hall
  • There’s a presentation by our wind turbine consultants Locogen Ltd on 28th May at 7pm, in Colintraive Village Hall.

The Development Trust will also be making their monthly report at the Community Council meeting on 19th May at 7.30pm in Colintraive Village Hall.

Categories
And The Next Thing is ... CGDT & CGCC Writing

Are Your Ready Workshop Presentation: What does a climate ready community look like in 2050?

The following assumes that increasingly climate change will force communities, particularly rural ones, towards self-sustainability as far as possible … 

Categories
And The Next Thing is ... Glen of the Red River

Glen of the Red River Community Calendar is open for events in ColGlen

faviconDeveloped with the Children of Kilmodan – who are now using the website for blogging their news – Glen of the Red River now has a user-submitting calendar for community events. Whether its for a quiz evening, whist drive or working group meeting, this is the place to let everyone know. For example last night Community Council meeting was published on the calendar. The more people use it the more useful it becomes.

And the kids will be thrilled with any comments on their posts!

Categories
And The Next Thing is ... Renewables Writing

Presentation for the Cross Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Community Benefit from the Inside

CSDS_at_Holyrood{This presentation was given by me (right) alongside these images}

{PANORAMA}

This is mid-Glendaruel from the community owned forest – or rather one of our harvested coups. Gives you an idea of how glorious the place is. And here it is on the map.

{MAP}

Colintraive and Glendaruel is a community of 350 people. We measure 28 miles


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