Our Hepburn Community Wind Farm was declared officially open on Saturday 5 November when 10 year old Neve Bosher of St Augustine’s School in Creswick cut a massive ribbon wrapping the girth of a 68m high wind tower, in front of more than 760 people. Miss Bosher beat a field of 147 other school children in the region, in a competition to name the 2 REpower wind turbines. Her winning names are Gale and Gusto.
As part of her prize, Neve was given a small parcel of shares, joining 1900 others who jointly own Australia’s first community-owned wind farm, 10 km south of Daylesford, in Central Victoria.
Per Bernard, founder of Hepburn Wind said, ‘In Denmark, where I was born, most wind farms are owned by communities. I am so proud that the Hepburn community has come together to benefit from renewable energy.’
Vicki Horrigan, chair of the Hepburn Wind Community Fund announced grants of $15,000 to community groups for causes as diverse as an arboreal tree mammal research project in the Wombat Forest, a community arts project by the Bungal Arts Depot in Ballan, welding equipment for the Daylesford Men’s Shed and play equipment for the Clunes Playgroup.





Media release: http://hepburnwind.com.au/news/media-releases/
Message from Prime Minister Julia Gillard:
http://hepburnwind.com.au/downloads/20111105-Julia-Gillard-hw-launch.pdf
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/hepburnwind/