School welcomes wind of change as turbine is installed

A FIFTEEN metre high wind turbine is being erected to help power a village school. The domestic-style turbine is being installed at Bassingbourn Primary School this week ahead of an opening ceremony next Wednesday. Jane Murray, the school s head teacher,

A FIFTEEN metre high wind turbine is being erected to help power a village school.

The domestic-style turbine is being installed at Bassingbourn Primary School this week ahead of an opening ceremony next Wednesday.

Jane Murray, the school's head teacher, said the turbine was the culmination of two years of hard work.

She said: "This has been a long, hard two years working to create a real positive beacon of renewable technology at the heart of the community.

"Energy cannot be taken for granted and the turbine will help the children re-explore their relationship with energy. The governors would like to thank the kindness of the local community in supporting this project and I hope this wind turbine will be positive start of a much wider and deeper change in how we as a community live."

The turbine is expected to yield 6,600 kilowatt hours of energy per year, reducing the school's annual CO2 emissions by 3.77 tonnes.

Funding for the project has come from school organisations such as the PTA and the board of governers, while local businesses Johnson Matthey, Partnerships in care, and T J Wood Groundworks have made contributions.

The Bassingbourn transition village group, which is working for a sustainable future for the village, also helped with funding.

Simon Saggers from the group, said:"It is wonderful, after so much hard work from within the community, that the kids and village as a whole will see renewable energy in action at our primary school.

"The fact that the children will be able to learn about how the turbine works, monitor how much electricity is produced and compare that to how much electric they use at school will be an important educational experience."

The turbine has the backing of Bassingbourn parish council, and Mr Saggers, who has one of the turbines at his home, said local people will not have any problems with noise generated by the machine.

He said: "It's not like a commercial turbine, which is what most people will have seen. It's very quiet and will be put up in the middle of the field away from any houses."

Cllr Jack White, chairman of the Parish Council, said "It is excellent that the Primary School is leading the community in producing renewable energy - the turbine will be a new landmark for the village and the first step of our transition to a greener way of life."

The turbine will officially be opened next Wednesday at 2.30pm.