A PROPOSAL to construct a second hydro generation project on the River Walkham, this time at Heckwood near Sampford Spiney, will be revealed at a public consultation next week.

Hawkins Hydro Ltd and Heidra are seeking to build the generator on the banks of the river at the old, granite quarry at Heckwood, to produce enough electricity to power 100 homes through clean, renewable energy.

The plans will be presented in more detail by the developers at an informal public consultation at St Mary's Church, Sampford Spiney, on Friday, March 22 between 3pm and 7pm.

Hawkins Hydro Ltd specialises in using private capital to generate long-term social and financial returns from hydropower development, mainly in the South West, and is consulting with the National Trust and the Woodland Trust to improve their hydropower assets.

The move comes in the wake of a controversial plan from Clean Green Power for a similar hydro generator scheme further up the Walkham at Huckworthy. This was approved by Dartmoor National Park planners last November, despite strong opposition from local property and landowners. It permitted a turbine house, rebuilding an ancient weir and the removal of significant amounts of water from a salmon river at an old mill site two miles downstream from the current proposal site.

The Sampford Spiney proposal is a third the size of the Huckworthy scheme and would, claim the developers, generate a similar power output.

Heidra say that the scheme is upstream from the major spawning grounds on the river and that it has undertaken considerable work, consulting with both Natural England and the Environment Agency, to mitigate its impact on fish.

James Cole, who lives at Sampford Spiney and owns the Heckwood site, founded Hawkins Hydro in 2011. He said: 'In common with all Hawkins projects, a proportion of profits from this scheme will be donated to local conservation and charity projects.'

Mr Cole, who was raised in Tavistock, is a solicitor and has advised on a number of hydropower and charity-related projects. He is also a trustee of the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natnural Beauty Trust, and is developing plans for a small hydro scheme in a mining heritage site on a tributary of the River Tamar to help fund the AONB. He was also a trustee at Morwellham before it was sold into private ownership.

The consultation takes place before detailed plans are formally submitted to the DNPA in order to seek to address public concerns about the project.

Mr Cole told the Times: 'Before we make the planning application to Dartmoor National Park, we want to demonstrate transparency by inviting people to a public meeting, inform them of the details of the scheme, and get them to air their views.

'In a broader context, the experience of Morwellham and many other charities shows that it is no longer feasible to rely upon public funding for community and heritage schemes in the current economic environment.

'I believe the development of hydropower assets using private capital in a way that benefits both investors and local communities is the right approach to ensure their long-term sustainability, and this approach is being used more and more in funding the charitable sector in the UK.'