During 2019/2020, Creetown Initiative, on behalf of Dumfriesshire East Community Benefit Group
(DECBG), was commissioned to carry out a study to get the views of local people in the East
Dumfriesshire area on what they would like to see Windfarm Community Benefit funds spent on.
Funded through the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES),
with support of Local Energy Scotland, and funding from ScottishPower Renewables’ Ewe Hill 6 and
Ewe Hill 16 Windfarms, the result of the extensive consultation is two documents. ‘East
Dumfriesshire Regional Community Plan’ describes the challenges facing the area, the consultation
process, summarises the findings and lays out a proposed Action Plan for the area. It also captures
thoughts on the way windfarm funds are managed. The second document ‘East Dumfriesshire
Community Consultation Feedback’ describes the detailed feedback received in more depth and is
an essential reference point for anyone or any community group wanting to develop Action Plans in
their own community. DECBG will use it alongside the Community Plan as a check that ideas coming
forward have community support. Copies of the Community Action Plan and Community
Consultation Feedback documents have been sent to all Community Councils and Elected Members
in the area. Over the next few weeks, a summary leaflet will be distributed to all the households in
the DG11-2, DG11-3 and DG13-0 areas, who were invited to participate in the survey. The
documents can also be downloaded from DECBG’s website Community Consultation | Dumfriesshire
East Community Benefit Group (DECBG)
As an incentive to return the survey, a prize draw of £200 was offered. In total 327 surveys were
returned and the winner of the prize draw, selected at random from surveys returned, was Ruth
Delaney. The survey produced 909 individual project ideas, all of which have been included in the
analysis. From these ideas, the priority project areas were: Infrastructure; Healthy Living; Transport;
Environment; Tourism; Eco Efficiency; Community Cohesion. The top ten projects mentioned were:
Sports Facilities; Community Transport; Community Shared Facilities; Develop Businesses; Youth
Facilities; Tourism Support; Internet Provision; Training and Education; Energy Efficiency;
Environmental Projects.
The seventh round of the Ewe Hill 16 Fund attracted eight applications, which will be checked and
assessed before being decided at a DECBG Board meeting in March 2021. The Fund is now open to
new applications, the deadline for which is 31 July 2021. Application Forms and Guidance Notes can
be downloaded from DECBG’s website The Ewe Hill 16 Fund | Dumfriesshire East Community Benefit
Group (DECBG) or by emailing decbgscio@gmail.com.
As well as distributing Community Benefit from ScottishPower Renewables’ Ewe Hill 6 and Ewe Hill
16 Windfarms, DECBG is exploring other opportunities with Crossdykes and Solwaybank Windfarms.
Note for