Community
We believe that there are many opportunities for local residents to benefit from Lees Hill Renewable Energy Park.
The project is unique in that it will deliver different renewable technologies alongside each other. We are proposing that the development will deliver community benefit equating to:
Wind power
£5,000 per MW of installed capacity
Solar power
£500 per MW of installed capacity
Following our first round of public exhibitions in October 2022 we have been working on our final layout and design, and we are confident that the project will bring substantial benefit to the local area.
We are committed to working closely with the local community to ensure that the community benefit package can be designed to support ongoing initiatives and address identified local challenges, such as:
Fuel Poverty
Housing Stock
Recreation
We are very flexible in our approach to community benefit, seeking to develop a fund that can be administered simply locally. In addition, we can also explore delivering more than one year of funding in advance to support large scale local initiatives.
Our Experience
We believe that our wind farms can be an asset to the local area, supporting the local economy and helping to meet local aspirations. Each year Fred. Olsen Renewables provides over £600,000 to eligible communities surrounding our wind farms, amounting to more than £6m to date.
This has helped communities to implement a variety of initiatives including:
Duns Swimming Pool
Crystal Rig Wind Farm
The community benefit funds from Crystal Rig Wind Farm have helped many local children master the important life skill of swimming. The funding provides children with access to free swimming lessons from birth. In addition, all local residents benefit from subsidised pool membership. Helping to build confidence in the water, provide a social outlet and keep kids active.
This initiative has also helped to sustain Duns Swimming Pool, a local charity, allowing it to reinvest in the facilities and provide a valuable service.
Kirsty Inkpen, Manager at Duns Swimming Pool, commented:
“Learning to swim is an essential lifeskill. There are many rivers in and around Duns, and by learning to swim in the pool it will help children, youngsters and adults to be safe in and around our many waterways.
“The Crystal Rig Community Benefit fund has helped to support many youngsters. Even taking them to competition level adults. In turn it has helped to keep Duns Swimming Pool afloat and allow us to reinvest in the facilities.”
