An innovative community enterprise in Old Trafford has
welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling last month over government plans to impose
cuts on solar projects.
The current Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) of 43p per kilowatt-hour,
paid to people in Britain for generating electricity through solar panels, was
originally due to be cut to 21p from 1 April 2012.
However, last October the government announced the new
tariff would come into effect for all solar panels installed after 12 December
2011, causing anger and confusion within the solar industry.
In March the Supreme Court's ruling that the cuts were
unlawful was well received by solar companies, many of which had already
invested in solar energy with the original tariff dates in mind.
And they were not the only ones celebrating. On Sunday a
group of activists convened in St John’s Centre, Old Trafford, for the official
launch of St John’s Sunshine (SJS).
Comprised of Rev. John Hughes and three other founding
members, SJS is an unusual collaborative project which aims to harness the
sun’s energy for the benefit of the community.
The idea behind the scheme was the product of a chance
meeting between Hughes and activist Fiona Nicholls in spring 2011. Hughes had
long considered the possibility of installing solar panels on the roof of his
church but was unsure how to proceed.
Together with local campaigner Pete Abel and business
consultant Gavin Wood, they concocted a plan to create the ultimate solar energy
community scheme – run by the community for the benefit of the community.
They would install solar panels on the roof of St John’s
church and use the money generated from the Feed-in-Tariff to fund local
projects. The scheme would be run as an enterprise with all the profits going
towards a ‘Sunshine Grant’ from which local schemes would be funded - from
environmental ventures to youth projects. Crucially, members of the community
would be invited to invest in the enterprise giving them a democratic say in
choosing which proposals the grant would pay for.
With the 43p/KWH tariff fixed for 25 years for projects
beginning before April 2012, the team estimated they would receive a minimum
annual income of £1350. Installation costs were estimated at £15,000 so in the
long run it appeared to make perfect financial sense.
But in October the government suddenly announced the FiT
would soon be slashed by half from December, throwing their plan into
uncertainty.
Gavin Wood said:
“The announcement was
disastrous for us. One of the main problems was that it would have meant a
massive cut – about 55% of our income stream would just disappear. For any
organisation to try and recover from such a huge cut is almost impossible.”
A long legal battle ensued after Friends of the Earth and
two solar companies applied for a judicial review. Several appeals later, the
Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of the solar industry represented the green
light
SJS had been hoping for.
Fiona Nicholls said:
“It was a huge relief.
Despite the government’s announcement we planned to go ahead with the project
anyway but the ruling means we will have twice as much money to give back to
the community in grants.”
Local Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, Kate Green
praised SJS:
“It’s a great scheme which brings together a very strong
community project with a strong environmental project. I hope lots of people
will get involved as investors and volunteers and will benefit from the way the
community grants are decided and spent.”
SJS are now concentrating on attracting investors to buy
shares in the enterprise and help pay for the installation costs.
With no
further legal obstacles anticipated, the future is looking sunny for St John’s
Sunshine and the Old Trafford Community.
For more information about SJS and the share offer email Rev
John Hughes: contact@stjohnssunshine.org.uk
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