All part of the build up to our share offer on 18th February at Victory Hall, Neen Sollars – more details to follow very soon!

We were delighted when just before Christmas, the judges at the High Court ruled in our favour, declaring the 12th December date illegal.  It was disappointing to hear that the government intended to appeal this decision at the Appeal Court (as the High Court said there were insufficient grounds to appeal there).  We feel this is a further waste of tax payers money and the added time involved has left the solar industry in limbo.  We await the outcome of the appeal judges decision and support FoE in their letter urging the government to act now to resolve the situation.

On 19th January we learnt of the government’s intention to lay proposals before parliament for a revised date of 3rd March, to replace the 12th December, in the event they do not win their appeal.  This does not affect our project but we believe it’s an important point of principle, to ensure the FIT scheme is run in a fair and transparent manner in the future, enabling all members of the public who want to invest in renewables to do so with confidence, and to enable the industry to grow and invest in research and development.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the project, we are delighted with this response, it’s been overwhelmingly positive.

The share issue will close as scheduled on 22nd December.  Any cheques received after this date will be returned as soon as practical in January.  Share certificates will be issued according to the timetable set out in the share offer document.

Please be advised that our office will be closed over Christmas, so any applications arriving after the 22nd will not be acknowledged until January.

Many thanks and Merry Christmas!

The met mast installation started on site on 8th December but due to high winds had to be completed the following day.

Noise monitoring work by an independent acoustic consultant will be starting shortly.

Ben Whittle and Eithne George, as directors from Leominster Community Solar spoke, to explain the history of the project and the roller coaster that the last few weeks had been, due to the government’s FIT consultation.  Naomi Andersson, manager of the Hereford branch of Southern Solar, located in Leominster also spoke and accepted a gift from the Co-op for all her efforts in ensuring the project happened to schedule. Likewise James Cooper, the project manager was thanked for his efforts and the whole Southern Solar installation crew – which at times had included even their sales manager, in the bid to get it up in time!  Councillor Adrian Blackshaw also attended and gave his support to the initiative, along with Cllr Felicity Norman, who has been very instrumental in getting the project up and running and spreading the word amongst the green community locally.  Andy Talbot, Technical Director from Halo, gave an overview of the energy reduction strategy that he is pioneering at Bridge Street, that he is rolling out to all the other Herefordshire leisure centres in his charge.

Thanks also to Southern Solar, for providing the locally sourced refreshments.

Questions were taken and a number of people decided to increase their original investments, whilst other new members also came forward.  Collectively this meant that £27,750 was received in cheques at the event – bringing us within about £6,500 of reaching our target on the share offer! And there are still 8 days to go before the end of the share issue. We are confident now we will reach the target, particularly with pledges that have been made, but we would urge anyone locally who is still thinking about investing to get their cheques in as soon as possible, as there will be priority for local members in the event we are oversubscribed.

Thank you everyone – it is a great feeling that we are nearly there!

All are welcome.  Please RSVP to eithne@sharenergy.coop if you are planning to attend, so we can get an idea of numbers.  There will be drinks and light refreshments.

We still have approximately £55,000 to raise before the close of the share issue on 22nd December, so please keep spreading the word!

And we just heard from Good Energy that our application for FiTS is accepted. See you Tuesday  - members and potential members all welcome!