Cash windfall for Grantown’s Anagach Woods vision from turbines
A wind farm has generated funds in excess of £22,000 for three projects in Strathspey in its latest pay-outs.
Anagach Woods Trust, the Grantown Remakery and the town’s swim club were all beneficaries in the 33th round of the Berry Burn Community Fund.
The committee has approved grants totalling £86,143 helping 16 projects spread across the designated fund area in Moray and the Highlands.
Linda Coe is chairwoman of the Anagach Woods Trust which has received £8,121.
She said: "Thanks to funding from the Berry Burn Community Fund, we will now be able to start Project 2033.
“This will deliver the vision set out in our recently approved Urban Woodland Management Plan to maintain and develop the woods and allow nature and the local community to thrive together.”
This will involve:
• providing a home for many native species, including pinewood rarities such as twinflower, aspen, and capercaillie, as part of a healthy forest ecosystem and wider nature networks.
• Allowing the local community to benefit from the woods as a ‘remarkable’ resource for leisure, nature connectedness and well-being, with further development of high-quality recreation infrastructure, education, and volunteering opportunities.
• Helping Anagach Woods and the local community develop resilience in the face of climate change and other risks.
Mrs Coe said: "The support from the fund means we will be able to commission the specialist support needed to create a Project 2033 plan and manage its implementation.
“Many of the activities in the plan will be carried out by volunteers but there are some challenging and specialist tasks that will require expert local contractors.
“This funding will allow us to prioritise and manage all of the resources that we need to successfully deliver this exciting project."
Grantown Remakery - a High Street hub where individuals come to learn to repair, reuse, and upcycle, fostering a culture of environmental responsibility and skill-sharing - is receiving £12,000.
Organiser George Livingstone said: “Our skilled volunteers and staff guide attendees in work skills ranging from basic repairs to complex upcycling projects.
“This work is very ably led by our workshop supervisor Tomas (Jedlicka), a skilled creative individual who focusses on quality outcomes and has a solution for most eventualities!
“This grant, which we are very grateful to receive, enables us to continue Tomas’ employment at the level we enjoy at present.
“This means that we will be able to prevent many more items from going to landfill and to upskill a significant number of individuals who come and work with us.”
Grantown Swim Club was awarded £2,535 to replace essential club equipment and support four swimmers to complete the Scottish Swimming Teachers Qualification.
All the other latest awards were to groups in Moray.
This latest round brings the total contribution to date towards local causes in the area to £2,151,217.
Alex Ross, acting chair of the Berry Burn Community Fund, said: “As in previous rounds there were many good applications and the requested support far exceeded the funds available.
“It is always regrettable that the fund cannot meet all the applications for projects that meet the criteria of BBCF.”
The fund receives an index-linked annual budget of £255,501 from international renewables company Statkraft, whose 29-turbine Berry Burn wind farm lies between Forres and Grantown.
