RESIDENTS of Inwardleigh have shown little enthusiasm for a new community co-operative giving them the chance to invest in a wind turbine planned for Waytown.

ClearWinds and Energy4All are developing the scheme as well as two others in Devon, a two turbine project at Torr Quarry near Kingsbridge in the South Hams and another single turbine project at Bratton Fleming.

Members of the public can invest between £250 and £20,000 in the co-operative, which then purchases them a share in the project. Capital is returned to investors at the end of the 25-year project, and profits made from the production of electricity will be distributed to members through an annual dividend.

The co-operative, entitled the Devon Community Wind Co-operative, would operate on a one member, one vote basis. Priority would be given to those living nearest the sites, before being broadened out across the county.

Tim and Janet White's bungalow is just over a kilometre from the proposed turbine site, with his garden's back hedge around 800 metres from it.

Mr White said: 'The general gist among the community is against the turbine. There are one or two fervent supporters but they live in Folly Gate, and might only see the tips of the turbine.

'The co-operative idea is not well supported here, especially when the figures we are given seem so shaky. The community fund is also not an incentive, with it not made clear whether the potential £20,000 promised would be for our scheme alone, or spread across the three schemes.

'Everything seems a bit flaky. An application for a turbine at Thorndon Cross was recently refused because of its proximity to the moor, and because it would be an eyesore.

'We hope councillors and planners see that this turbine would be worse of an eyesore relative to the moor because of its size.'

Marilyn Cooper, clerk of Inwardleigh Parish Council said: 'Things have been quieter, but there seemed to be a lot of opposition at the public meeting back in May. As a council, we will have to wait and see until the application is put in formally.'

The Waytown turbine would be located approximately three kilometres south west of Inwardleigh, surrounded by agricultural land.

The proposal is for a single wind turbine with a maximum hub height of 50 metres and a tip height of up to 78 metres.

With an installed capacity of up to 0.85 megawatts, the turbine could power around 475 homes, displacing in the region of 24,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions during its 25-year lifespan.

John Malone, development director at Energy4All, said: 'At this stage of the development there is concern about the turbine, but that is what the planning process is for, to address those concerns and see what can be done.

'We use the democratic co-operative business model because it gives local people the chance to get involved with green energy and see reasonable returns for their investment,

'We have 7,500 members actively involved in wind farm co-operatives across the country, who have been pro-active to get involved and invest in the schemes. They are making a good return on a green investment.'