Bury's Commitment to Wind

Bury Council has met with national wind turbine manufacturer, Windsave, to discuss the feasibility of installing micro wind turbines onto the town hall in a bid to become more ecologically friendly. Ian Smith Principal Electrical Engineer & Energy Manager said: "We are in the very early stages of this scheme which could provide us with a viable low-cost source of sustainable energy.

If a planning application and feasibility study prove successful then it would make Bury one of the first local authorities to implement wind turbines as a source of power for its town hall."

The installation of five micro wind turbines is part of Bury's ongoing commitment to a local ecology strategy called 'Greening of the town halls' part of the 'Manchester is my Planet' campaign.

The campaign is running across Greater Manchester and aims to bring about a green energy revolution in the region. Bury's radical move to install wind turbines would also accommodate this year's microgeneration policy brought in by the Government.

The Government policy called 'Power from the People' highlights key factors from a study by the Department for Trade and Industry which suggests that by 2050 microgeneration could provide 30-40% of the UK's electricity needs and help to reduce household carbon emissions by 15% per annum.

There are currently around 82,000 microgeneration installations in the UK.

Councillor John Byrne Executive Member for Environment and Transport said: "By harnessing the world's natural resources and using them to provide a sustainable energy source to power up our offices and buildings we are taking an innovative step towards saving the environment and protecting our ecology. The short term investment will undoubtedly pay long term dividends."