THE bosses of the Whalley Community Hydro project have been fending off complaints since it opened.

The River Calder scheme, which started generating electricity seven months ago, has been the subject of a number of concerns including noise and its appearance.

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The complaints come after the project, which was first started in 2010, was officially approved and accredited by Ofgem.

Bosses have also revealed that it is expected to generate £90,000 for the village over the course of the year.

Director Chris Gathercole defended the project saying that the noise made by the hydro was ‘barely audible’ above the noise of the weir.

He added that they were continuing to address any concerns local residents had.

A massive Archimedean screw, which is 12 metres long and weighs 13 tons, is used to generate electricity which is then sold off with the money then being put back into the village.

Mr Gathercole said: “We have had some concerns about the noise that it generates from the residents who live nearby.

“We have been down to the site to see what it’s like for them to live close to the hydro but the noise itself can hardly be heard over the sound of the river.

“We have however tweaked some of the settings and that has made a slight difference.

“Concerns about the way it looks have also been raised, especially over the grill that covers the screw.

“We will continue to listen to any concerns that are raised with us and do all we can to make sure that they are addressed.

“The hydro itself is working exactly how it should be and we have had no problems since it was turned on last year.

“We have not received much money yet from selling the electricity but because we have now been officially approved by Ofgem we can now expect to receive the money in a back payment.

“There is no official figure for how much that will be at the moment but we are still expecting to raise £90,000 for Whalley.”

Cllr Terry Hill, who represents the area on Ribble Valley Borough Council, said: “There have been a few complaints that I received from local residents and I got the council involved.

“From my understanding they did more than just a few tweaks to fix it but now you can’t hear anything and I have received no more complaints.”

From a planning perspective, Cllr Hill said no planning conditions imposed by the council had been breached.