Moffat Community Woodlands, the new owners of Moffat’s Gallow Hill, have been awarded £29,838 from the SSE Dumfries and Galloway Sustainable Development Fund.
The group are delighted to receive the cash boost which will help them develop the 33.4 hectares of land at Gallow Hill.
Delighted, the group’s chairman Tom Mulholland said: “This generous grant has helped us to complete purchase, but is also a huge contribution to our plans to restock the hill with broadleaved trees.
“On top of that, we can further improve biodiversity with the creation of some ponds and scrapes. We are now looking forward positively to creating a mixed broadleaf woodland for all the community to enjoy.”
SSE created the Sustainable Development Fund as part of its community benefit arrangements from its onshore renewable energy developments in and around Dumfries and Galloway, including Balmurrie Fell wind farm near Stranraer and Clyde Extension windfarm near Moffat.
The fund supports projects which address one of three priorities: employability, community energy, and the enhancement of the built and natural environment.
Meanwhile nine other local groups benefited from the fund, including the Eastriggs and Gretna Heritage Group who received £20,000 to employ a museum and learning manager at the Devil’s Porridge Museum.
