Forres is currently twinned with Mount Dora in Florida, USA, and Vienenburg in the Hartz Mountains of Germany, but Steve Tinsley from the Sustainable Research and Development Company at the Forres Enterprise Park, wants to push the town's environmental boundaries.

His company, which is based at the Horizon Scotland Business Centre is speaking to a group working at a town in South Africa about forging links between the two towns.

Mr Tinsley said that he has already started work drawing up a list of similarities between the two towns which, although they are at either end of the globe, have a lot in common. He said that Forres was ideally placed to be the first ever "sustainable" twin town in Britain.

Forres already has a number of groups and organisations which embrace sustainable and green eco-friendly ideas and ways of life, not least with its own townspeople who have taken the ideas of re-cycling their waste and composting to their hearts, thanks to Moray Council initiatives and the pioneering Moray Wastebusters scheme, which is based at the Waterford Amenity Site.

The pioneering ideas of the Findhorn Foundation are also a role model. The facility has its own wind park to provide energy to its eco-village and uses environmentally friendly technology, such as the living machine natural sewage plant. Other smaller groups such as Transition Town Forres – working to make the town carbon neutral – will also go a long way towards meeting the ideal of a sustainable twin town.

Mr Tinsley said he was excited by the idea and hoped organisations in Forres would get on board. He explained how he got involved.

"I gave a paper on 'sustainable development' at a conference in India a few months ago," he said. "I met with one of the delegates afterwards who explained that the town she represented in South Africa would be very interested in learning more about us."

On his return, he was contacted by the delegate who said she was keen to promote the idea. Staff at SDRC have already started work on gathering information to see how practicable it could be.

"We are keen to measure both communities and develop the twinning link but would need funding to do so," he added. "We have some funding options to pursue but if there are local organisations wishing to provide support funding we would be willing to discuss."

The town of Hermanus in South Africa, which is located east of Cape Town, is similar to Moray, as it relies on tourism and its spectacular landscapes and wildlife.

Spokesperson Helen Turnbull from Serendipity Africa, said it could be "the right time to undertake a partnership initiative" between the two towns. "Hermanus has a very effective local Conservation Foundation," she said, "but we need some leadership in terms of how to guide the town and its local government representatives into becoming sustainable by creating a framework to aim towards."

Mr Tinsley said that Forres was also dependent on tourism and the promotion of its attractions. He said that while Hermanus promoted whale watching, with an annual festival, as a large tourism pull, that similarities in the North East include Loch Ness near Inverness and dolphin watching on the coast.

"I believe that Hermanus has the potential as a country, compact town to become the perfect example of a responsible destination," she added. She explained that like the North-east of Scotland which is rich is heather and has areas of valuable duneland that the surrounding area near Hermanus is covered in fynbos, an indigenous heather, which forms one part of six vital global biospheres.

"There are certainly some dynamic opportunities to explore," added Mrs Turnbull, who has also invited a delegation from Moray to carry out a field trip to assess the possibilities.

Meantime, Mr Tinsley's team are working on a comparative study to compare a Scottish and South African community which could assist the development of the twinning idea.

Anyone who wishes to be involved or can offer ideas about twinning Forres as a sustainable community should contact him on 01309 678111 or e-mail: stephen.tinsley@sdrc.uhi.ac.uk

t.mclaren@forres-gazette.co.uk

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