Hot on the heels of news that Bute harbours two of the most multiply-deprived areas in Scotland comes word that Argyll & Bute Council is to make swingeing budget cuts in a move which is bound to affect employment. The Council is one of the biggest employers on Bute.
©The Buteman
Whilst the budget and jobs outlook for Council employees will be somewhat worrying the Council’s Development Officer encourages us to ‘look within’
©The Buteman
We are proud to be making local efforts to boost Bute’s economy ourselves. Harnessing the strong winds which blow over Ascog Farm to turn them into electricity would offer a means through which the farm could diversify and ensure its survival, the community would benefit without any up-front costs (and could benefit more if it invested in the project) and – through our partners Towards Zero Carbon Bute – local jobs could be supported over a twenty year timescale.
©The Buteman
Of course, none of this is a certainty and it will depend upon planning permission for decent-sized turbines (the bigger they are the more power they make) being granted.
If the project does get off the ground we look forward to the contribution we could make – not only in generating clean, green electricity – but in helping to reinvigorate Bute’s local economy through further investment in the farm and more widely through the TZCB-administered community investment fund.