Richard Body Director Torrs Hydro New Mills Ltd www.torrshydro.org Saturday 8th October 2011 Richard Body Director Torrs Hydro New Mills Ltd www.torrshydro.org

The first community owned and funded hydro electric scheme in the country www.torrshydro.org

Where is New Mills? First, where are we?

The screw

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Generator  Gearbox 

Exhibition Jan 2007 Giving the public as much information was a feature of the project. This exhibition, prior to Torrs Hydro existing, engaged with the public – see the model screw – Steve Welsh from Water Power Enterprises and the 4 founding directors are all here. To build the site Torrs Hydro needed A lease on the land – it was owned by New Mills Town Council Planning permission An Abstraction licence from the Environment Agency The money to build it Water Power Enterprises helped with each of these

Richard Body Director Torrs Hydro New Mills Ltd www.torrshydro.org Thank you Richard Body Director Torrs Hydro New Mills Ltd www.torrshydro.org

The artist’s impression. The starting point Close to the final scheme except there are additional fences and guard and a fish pass. The idea originated with Water Power Enterprises, a Yorkshire-based social enterprise promoting water power as a source of renewable energy. They recognised the potential of the many weirs across the north of England, and were looking for potential sites. New Mills Town Council (who own the Torrs Riverside Park, where the hydro plant is located) were extremely interested in the idea, but couldn’t offer funding for the project. Water Power Enterprises ran an exhibition at the Heritage Centre to gain local interest, and then worked with the local Friends of the Earth group who facilitated a series of public meetings about the proposal. A key issue for Water Power Enterprises was that part of the initial capital finance would need to come from individual investors (rather than relying entirely on grant funding). As a result of the public meetings local people suggested that they were prepared to invest in such a scheme provided it had local ownership and the benefits where seen locally. The search was therefore for a legal form which would affordably allow for community ownership and a comparatively small community share issue. Research by Water Power Enterprises suggested that an Industrial and Provident Society for the Benefit of the Community would meet these criteria. Sept 2007 Torrs Hydro New Mills Limited formed as an IPS with 4 founding directors. The main differences between an IPS and a normal limited company 1. Registered with the FSA not companies house 2. Interest and grants are deductable from profits before corporation tax (normal companies have to pay corp. tax first) 3. 1 shareholder 1 vote 4. An IPS BENCOM is run for the Benefit of the Community and not the shareholders. Our 230 shareholders can be paid interest on their shares but that interested is capped. We are VAT registered (it saved 10 of thousands). Torrs Hydro’s objectives are: Help regenerate the community and environmental sustainability of the New Mills area; Advance education (particularly concerning asset based community development and enterprises with a community or environmental focus); and Provide an opportunity for public-spirited people and organisations to contribute financially to the community, with the expectation of a social dividend, rather than personal financial reward. (Those objects are carried on for the benefit of the community) It is run for the benefit of the community and not of the shareholders (like most cooperatives you might know).