Royal Air Force Greatworth

SPRING FARM RIDGE

Broadview Energy’s Wind Farm Proposal

Thousands in Greatworth, Helmdon, Stuchbury, Sulgrave, Weston and elsewhere will lose.

A few will gain - naming and shaming the “Grantpreneurs” who stand to gain from the damage that will be done to the rest of us

Nicholas Ward

13 November 2010

Broadview Energy Limited (“Broadview”) has recently applied for planning permission to install and operate a wind farm at the Spring Farm Ridge site between the villages of Greatworth, Helmdon, Stutchbury and Sulgrave. The application envisages the erection of five wind turbines with a maximum height of 405 feet each. Turbines of this height will dwarf the surrounding area. They will be a major blot on the beautiful South Northamptonshire countryside and will cause huge environmental damage in terms of visual intrusion, noise and other interference. It will also have a significant adverse effect on local flora and fauna.

Thousands of people will be affected by these proposals, including:-

People who live or work in or near the villages of Greatworth, Helmdon, Stutchbury, Sulgrave and Weston, or who visit these villages. These people will be the most affected, with the wind farm on their doorstep. The turbines will be 750m from the nearest house, well within the 2km limit which is mandatory in Scotland.

People living, working or visiting elsewhere in South Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, whose views will be affected.

People who drive in or through South Northamptonshire, especially those driving along Welsh Lane.

People walking on the many footpaths that cross the site.

Wind farms such as that at Spring Farm Ridge are rarely profitable in their own right and are only promoted because of grants and tax concessions that are available to support wind farm developments. The promoters and developers of these wind farms are “grantpreneurs”, maximising the benefits they get from subsidies (such as Renewables Obligation Certificates) and tax concessions, for which the rest of us pay through increased electricity charges and through higher taxes.

Whilst many people will suffer from Broadview’s proposals, relatively few will gain. If planning permission is granted, the winning “grantpreneurs” will be:-

The management of Broadview

The shareholders in Broadview

The five local farmers who are collaborating with Broadview

This paper names and shames these “grantpreneurs” who are trying to ruin our lives. It is based on publicly available information.

The Management of Broadview

Broadview’s address is Unit 2, The Old Power Station, 121 Mortlake High Street, London SW14 8SN, its telephone number is 020 8487 950, and its website is www.broadviewenergy.com.

The Chief Executive and main energiser of Broadview is Jeffery Corrigan. A change of home address was filed at Companies House in respect of Mr Corrigan on 13 April 2010. Previously, his registered address was 5 Bellevue Road, Barnes, London SW13 0BJ, but since 13 April 2010 it has been 16 Elm Grove Road, Barnes, London SW13 0BJ. Both these addresses are very close to Barnes Common.

Barnes Common is a 100 acre area of woodland and common in south-west London. This area is noted for its beauty and for the habitat it provided and it is vigorously defended by the Friends of Barnes Common, a voluntary group whose website it www.barnescommon.org.uk. One wonders how the Friends of Barnes Common would react if Mr Corrigan, or a “grantpreneur” like him, were to make an application to build a wind farm on Barnes Common.

Peter Hughes is a Non-Executive Director of Broadview. His registered address is London House, 45 High Street, Clophill, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK45 4AA.

The third Director of Broadview is itself a limited company, Regent Capital Services Plc. Regent Capital itself has four directors who are listed as:-

David Altshuler

Anna Josse

Howard Kitchener

Gideon Lyons.

Regent Capital’s website is www.regentcap.com and it appears to be based at 20 Seymour Mews, London W1H 6BQ.

On its website, Regent Capital says ““Regent Capital has been working with Broadview Energy Limited in the wind energy section to develop and build wind farms in the UK and is creating opportunities for professional customers to invest in wind farms through the Enterprise Investment Scheme which provides investors with the following benefits:-

· 20% income tax relief on amounts invested (£500k limit)

· Defer CGT on gains realised (within last 3 years)

· IHT exemption (EIS shares held for 2 years)

· No CGT on gains from EIS shares after 3 years”

The Broadview Project Manager for the Spring Farm Ridge project is Olly Buck.

Broadview are currently working on a total of seven wind farm sites, as follows:-.

Operational – Aberdeen

At various stages in the planning process:-

· Allerdale (Cumbria)

· Stockton-on-Tees/Hambleton

· Harborough

· Huntingdon

· Stratford-on-Avon

· Spring Farm Ridge.

Shareholders in Broadview

Broadview shareholders stand to make major capital gains out of the development of the Spring Farm Ridge wind farm and other sites on which Broadview are currently working. In doing so, they will benefit significantly from tax concessions for which the rest of us effectively have to pay.

The shareholders of Broadview are:-

Number of Percentage

Shares of share capital

%

Directors

Jeffrey Corrigan 879,800 10.2

Peter Hughes 221,200 2.6

Regent Capital Plc 356,710 4.1

Corporate Investors

Ventus (3 VCT PLCs) 1,353,846 15.7

Hatton Consultants Limited 654,000 7.6

Les Enterprises

Josephine Benitez Ltd 46,000 0.5

Individual Investors

Per list below 5,106,969 59.3

8,618,525 100.0

The Broadview directors are referred to in the management section above.

Ventus appears to control the largest shareholding in Broadview, which is apparently spread across three venture capital trusts. The Ventus website is www.ventusvct.com. Their address is c/o Climate Change Capital Ltd., 3 More London Riverside, London SE1 2AQ.

The Board of Ventus PLC comprises:-

D. Pinkney – Chairman

A. Moore

P. Thomas

C. Wood

The investment manager of Ventus is Climate Change Capital Limited, whose website is www.climatechangecapital.com and whose address is above.

The individual Broadview shareholders referred to in the table above are:-

Name No of Accounts Total Shareholding

Paul Adams 3 442,692

David Altschuler 2 137,500

Andrew Arrowsmith 3 442,692

Peter Barlow 2 270,000

Jeremy Benjamin 1 750,000

Julie Bostock 1 12,300

Katherine Bostock 1 3,850

Nicholas Bostock 2 4,138

Executors of

Richard Bostock

1

250,000

Paul Chilvers 1 125,000

Gary Crystal 1 5,000

Steve Flashman 2 76,154

Hamilton Greenwood 1 140,385

Andrew Hagyard 1 11,430

Paul Hardy 3 303,077

Clive Hill 1 800,000

James Kaberry 1 53,712

Andrew Kitchener 1 10,000

Howard Kitchener 2 137,500

David Pridden 1 25,000

John Rawicz-Szczerbo 2 288,462

Chris Roase 3 303,077

Ian Ross 1 250,000

Mark Shaw 1 250,000

David Weekes 1 15,000

5,106,969

A number of these investors acquired all or some of their shareholdings in the summer of 2010 at a time when it was already known that Broadview was working on the Spring Farm Ridge development.

The addresses of the individual shareholders are not shown in Broadview’s Annual Return, but it would be possible to write to them care of Broadview’s own offices, or via Regent Capital.

The Five Local Farmers Collaborating with Broadview

The Broadview application would not have been made if Broadview had not been able to find farmers who were willing to work with them on the Spring Farm Ridge wind farm proposal.

In the event, five farmers have been willing to work with Broadview and would benefit significantly from the proposed wind farm. They are:-

Nick Mead, Spring Hill Farm, Welsh Lane, Helmdon

Mervyn Humphrey, Falcutt Hall, Welsh Lane, Helmdon

Doug Humphrey, Redlands, Welsh Lane, Helmdon.

Steve Adkins, Greatworth Hall, Greatworth

David Thame, Stutchbury Lodge, Sulgrave

These five farmers have been prepared to work with Broadview notwithstanding the huge damage that the wind farm proposal will do to their neighbours in Greatworth, Helmdon, Stutchbury and Sulgrave.

Public Relations Advisers

Broadview maintains a very active public relations function, which is part of the armoury it uses to promote its wind farms.

The Broadview website (http://www.broadviewenergy.com) contains copies of press releases over the last three years or so. The first release on the website was dated 28 June 2007. Up to 20 October 2010 there have been a total of 70 press releases in respect of the seven wind farm proposals.

Within Broadview, PR is handled by Lisa Ross, the Broadview Community Relations Manager (tel. 020 487 9150).

Over the years, Broadview have used a number of external public relations consultants, the latest of which is Paul Taylor at Taylor Keogh Communications (tel. 020 3170 8465). Paul Taylor is well known in the wind industry and apparently acts for a number of wind companies. Taylor’s first press release for Broadview was dated 21 September 2009 and his name has appeared on every press release since then.

Based on what has happened elsewhere, it can be expected that the Spring Farm Ridge development will be the subject of a barrage of press releases. There have already been six so far and, based on experience elsewhere, there could be a further twelve or more press releases relating to Spring Farm Ridge over the next year or so.