Nursery turns to wind power

From the archive, first published Tuesday 12th Feb 2008.

A horticultural nursery is set to become even greener with the installation of a wind turbine.

The turbine will be put into place at Swincar Nurseries, in Guiseley, on Friday.

The move is believed to be a first for horticultural nurseries in the area.

The turbine will be linked to the National Grid and is part of a wider drive by the long-established business to go green' and cut costs by using clean, renewable energy. Last year Leeds planners approved the scheme to add a turbine with a 15-metre-high mast and 5.5-metre rotors to the side of its site on Chevin End Road.

Andrew Fisher, who took over the nursery in 1964, believes the turbine will be a first for nurseries in the area, and hopes others will follow suit. There has been a nursery on the site for around 150 years - making it one of the area's longest-running nurseries.

Describing the scheme, Mr Fisher said: "We're doing this both to help the environment and, in the much longer term, save costs although we won't see that for ten years or so.

"This is about going down the green road and trying to reduce our carbon footprint."