A group of north-east councillors want their local authority to spend £24million building wind turbines.
Members of the Democratic Independent Group believe erecting 20 of the devices could boost Aberdeenshire Council’s income by £2million – and avoid planned cuts in key services.
One of the group’s members – Debra Storr – is a planning consultant for Green Cat Renewables, the firm behind dozens of wind energy applications in the region.
The group will put forward the proposals at today’s council budget meeting, and said it was time for “out of the box” thinking.
Members believe the income generated by the electricity would reduce the need for savings in funding for primary classroom assistants and the social work budget.
Finance bosses at Aberdeenshire Council will ask councillors to agree to cuts to services, with budget figures revealing a £10million shortfall.
The group’s proposals centre on using the council’s prudential borrowing powers to invest in renewable energy, and suggest spending £24million on turbines – which would be built on council-owned sites – and £11.3million on solar panels.