GREEN-MINDED residents in Hockerton have had a bumper windfall. After investing in building a wind turbine to generate clean, green, renewable energy they are now reaping the rewards.

Residents who helped fund the project, by Sustainable Hockerton, have received five per cent interest payments on their cash in the first year – a better rate than any ISA savings accounts that are currently on the market.

Not only that, the small parish of 54 households has benefited from £3,000 for village improvements.

And that is in the first year, when set up costs have to be settled. Now these costs are paid off it is expected that in future years, interest payments could rise as high as seven per cent and village improvement funds to up to £10,000 a year.

The residents who invested can also be content in the knowledge that the energy the turbine creates – easily enough to meet the electricity needs of their village – is good for the environment because it is from a renewable source that does not pollute, unlike electricity generated in coal-fired power stations.

Sustainable Hockerton is a prime example of what can be done when communities get together for the collective benefit of the places they live in.

Not everyone can afford to have solar panels installed on their homes or fork out for ground source heat pumps, but the Sustainable Hockerton example shows how people can tap into the benefits of renewable energy by chipping in together as a community.

They have also benefited from the Government's Feed-in-Tariff (FiT), an incentive scheme which gives a guaranteed payment to people who generate renewable energy on a small, non-industrial, scale.

However, this was an unexpected bonus, because FiTs were only introduced on April 1, 2010 – four months after Sustainable Hockerton's turbine started generating electricity. This meant the payback period for the project has been much shorter than expected.

But they deserve the rewards they are getting for having a vision and leading the way in becoming a more sustainable community.