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Who are we?
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Torrs Hydro New Mills Limited is an
Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) for the Benefit of the Community.
Torrs Hydro was registered specifically so that the community could own
the hydro electric scheme to be built in "The Torrs" in New Mills. The
four founding directors are all local people who have a keen interest in
the project. We have a set of rules that set out how
we shall operate and what our objectives are.
There are two types of IPS. One is for the benefit of the shareholders the
other, which we are, is for the benefit of the community. paraphrasing from the
HMRC CTM40505
The
Torrs Hydro directors with Water Power Enterprises (H2oPE)
directors at the Big Lift in the Torrs
Front (L to R) :
Maggie Cole, Esther Jones and Helen Walker (H2oPE).
Back: Sean Whewell, Steve Welsh (H2oPE), Till Geiger and Richard Body
Photo: Paul Devereaux |
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Following our first
general meeting on 1st March 2008, Sean Whewell, a New Mills resident,
was appointed a director. Sean has a long career in project management
within several business and brings a new perspective and energy to the
directors.
We'll have to catch up with him and take a photo soon. |
A society 'for the benefit of the community' must principally show
that:
- the business must be run primarily for
the benefit of people who are not members of the society and
must be in the interests of the community at large,
- the rules of the society must not allow
distribution of profits or assets to the members: profits should
be ploughed back into the business,
- the organisation has special reasons
for registering under this part of the industrial and provident
society legislation rather than as a company,
- on dissolution the assets of the
society must pass to some other body with similar objects, not
to the members.
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Our rules reflect these requirements, our stated
aims are to :
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Help regenerate the community and environmental
sustainability of the New Mills area;
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Provide an opportunity for public-spirited people and
organisations to contribute financially to the community, with the
expectation of a social dividend, rather than personal financial reward.
Examples of the ways in which we may carry out our aims include:
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Developing and operating a grant system out of the revenues
from the Scheme;
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Developing an educational programme on environmental issues;
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Developing new or existing services to the local community
that contribute to the local economy.
Our company rules are based on a model set of rules provided by
Wessex Reinvestment Trust which made it
very easy to set up the company and launch a community share issue.
Useful external links
FSA IPS Index
Wessex
Reinvestment Trust
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