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July Newsletter Now Available
Wednesday, 3 August, 2016
We continue to work hard to finalise plans for the schools at Stanchester, near Stoke-sub-Hamdon and Holyrood in Chard.
Posted in Updates
Dear Members
We continue to work hard to finalise plans for the schools at Stanchester, near Stoke-sub-Hamdon and Holyrood in Chard. Our progress is hampered by the energy industry being swamped with applications from community energy societies like ourselves who made applications last autumn to register projects before the Government's deadline. We are still unable to say if and when our new projects will go ahead, but we are still hopeful of achieving installations over the schools' summer holidays.
On a more positive note, we were very pleased to be asked by Bath and West Community Energy Society (BWCES) to be their partner in helping to raise £5 million to bring part of the 10 MW solar array at Crewkerne into community ownership. We organised public meetings at Crewkerne and Yeovil and attended meetings with South Somerset District Council. The required £2.63 million has been raised in shares and bonds through ETHEX and I understand the solar array is now complete and generating. BWCES are sorting the final details of the contract and intend to invite the press to the handover in the near future. The bond issue matures in July 2018 and SSCES and its members will be invited to buy into this project at that time. In the meantime, we have been asked by BWCES to form a charitable organisation to administer the community benefit fund generated by the Solar Array.
Our first AGM successfully took place on 21st June. Thank you to the members who turned up and enabled us to conduct the necessary business. The minutes of the meeting have been circulated to members and we have been busy addressing the actions and the current situation is as follows:
- A redacted form of the 2015 AGM minutes and the Annual Accounts, as verified by an independent Chartered Accountant, are with our website host and should appear on the website soon.
- Our rules may be viewed or downloaded from our website www.sscom.energy.
- A Share nomination form, to allow members to nominate a successor, has been produced and is available from our Secretary or through our website.
- We have investigated payment of interest to our members through BACS. It would appear that it is more cost effective for us to send payments by cheque so we have ordered the cheque books and await their delivery.
Thank you for your continued support. Please contact us in the normal way if you have any questions.
With our very best wishes
David Rabone
Founder Member and Treasurer
18th July 2016
