UHI wants local windfarm tax 21/9/10
A new tax should be charged on windfarms and paid to the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), amongst other organisations says its principal James Fraser.
He says a regional levy on renewable energy schemes in the region would provide a fund for investment in the Highlands and Islands.
Prompted by curtailed funding for the UHI, Mr Fraser says “such a justified and valuable source of money would ease the pressure on public sector funds for higher education.”
He stressed: “This mission should not be delayed because we cannot identify new sources of income.”
Mr Fraser is calling on the Scottish and UK governments to establish a fund from
a levy on both on-
In addition to piecemeal community benefit payments – “there are only so many times you can refurbish the village hall” – he believes a substantial pot of money would create a permanent social and economic legacy for the region.
He said: “This would be a fund for wider regional good. Through investment in research, skills development, enterprise and in the people of the Highlands and Islands, UHI has the capability of ensuring that community benefit derived from the new and exciting renewable energy industry, which capitalises upon the quality of our marine and terrestrial environments, yields an ongoing and permanent benefit for all the people of our region,” he added.
For UHI, Mr Fraser said such a justified and valuable source of money would also ease the pressure on public sector funds for higher education. “We face enormously challenging times ahead as we seek to continue to provide the breadth and depth and quality of curriculum in the face of unprecedented cuts in public funding.
“It is of vital importance that we do not reduce the range of our programmes or damage the quality of our research. We have to strive hard to be more efficient – not an easy task for organisations that have being doing so now for some years – and also to identify new sources of income.