NORTH Ayrshire Council is to create a policy on payments from wind farms that allows locals to maximise the benefits to the community and make them more transparent.

Owners of wind power installations often provide some form of payback to local communities in the form of funding of local projects or payments to the local council.

For example, the BeGreen shop in Dalry – an energy advice centre – is funded by Community Windpower Limited (CWL) who have six turbines at Millour Hill and six at Wardlaw Wood near the town.

The company also funds an educational ranger and has pledged £100,000 to refurbish Dalry Scout Hall, however this sum has never been paid as it needs to be matched by an equivalent amount from the Scouts.

Critics say such benefits assist the wind farm developers to win planning applications in the face of potential local opposition by acting as ‘sweeteners’.

In April, the Scottish Government published a set of principles for ‘Community Benefit from Onshore Renewable Developments’ which state that community benefits should be an entirely separate process from planning decisions and should be based on the specific needs of local people, not on the impact of the project.

Unease over the transparency and auditing of the actual contributions provided by CWL has surfaced in Dalry with one of the aims of the newly formed Community Development Hub being to resolve the current impasse regarding Millour Hill community benefits and the perceived limitations imposed by the current method of managing and allocating the community benefits derived from the Dalry Community Wind Farm (Wardlaw Wood).

A newsletter distributed by the hub’s steering committee said: “Many questions remain unanswered, and significant discrepancies still exist when the reported spend and community benefit per MW installed rates are compared.

“Commitments given by CWL to the Scottish Government and other bodies are currently being assessed, and a planned meeting with CWPL will hopefully be arranged within the next few weeks to secure a clearer understanding of what Dalry can expect to receive during the operational life of the wind farm developments which the community currently hosts.” NAC itself believes the benefits being paid by wind farm operators is not being maximised.

The Cabinet paper to be discussed today says: “It is evident that the ad hoc manner in which community benefits from wind turbine developments have been paid has resulted in a considerable loss to North Ayrshire.

“Based on a recommended potential £5000 per MW North Ayrshire Council should receive £470,000 per annum towards community benefits whereas it presently receives about 20 per cent of this.” It is understood the Council Cabinet will today recommend developing a policy on community benefits that separates it from the planning application process.

The aim is also to maximise community benefits along with council officer support for local communities to achieve them.