ENERGY AND UTILITIES

Hive Energy and Wirsol Energy
Delivering the consultation needed to gain consent for the UK’s largest solar farm.

The Brief

Between November 2017 and May 2020 Counter Context delivered the communications and consultation for the successful DCO application for the consented Cleve Hill Solar Park, the UK’s largest solar farm.

What We Did

The arrival of large scale and unsubsidised solar schemes changed the narrative for solar developments. Key to our approach to Cleve Hill Solar Park was establishing clear messages from the outset to engage national and local stakeholders and the media. Central to these messages has been the ambition to be one of the lowest cost generators of renewable energy in the UK and the importance of delivering affordable renewable energy to a significant number of UK households.

We served as an integral part of a consultant-led and small project team to support the client, offering project management and active client liaison. We know that pre-application engagement is most effective when there is a strong relationship between the consultation team and the team undertaking the EIA and preparing the planning application. We worked in close collaboration with other members of the client and professional team to ensure an integrated response to environmental, technological and commercial factors influencing a scheme.

Given the scale of the site and different project elements we conducted an iterative consultation process. Ahead of engaging under the ‘formal’ processes of the 2008 Act (under Section 42 of the 2008 Act) we commenced informal consultation through a series of local meetings and consultation events. This enabled early discussions with affected nearest neighbours to the scheme and allowed us to meet with the Council leaderships and agree the consultation process with the local authorities.

We have developed an ongoing, two-way dialogue with key consultees for the project including MPs, local interest groups and environmental organisations, locally elected representatives, planning officers, residents, neighbours, and campaign groups. We also established good relationships with local, national and trade media and engaged in several interviews and discussion with journalists to help present a balanced view of the scheme and prevent the spread of misinformation.

The range of consultation and engagement techniques employed for Cleve Hill Solar Park were highly effective in engaging a wide audience and range of opinions. Across the two rounds of public consultation, we met with over 900 people and analysed over 2,000 pieces of feedback. In addition, we supported the wider project team to deliver the required formal notices under Sections 46, 48 and 56 of the 2008 Act, the publication of the SoCC and project under Section 47 and collation of all formal responses under Section 42 of the 2008 Act.

Outcome

Our transparent and iterative approach enabled the proposals for the project to evolve in response to consultation. This was evidenced in the final consultation report to show a meaningful and effective consultation process, which resulted in the DCO being accepted for Examination in December 2018, and helped to bolster the project through its Examination and Consent in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

High Speed Two (HS2) Limited / Bechtel Corporation Managing local and strategic engagement for Europe’s largest infrastructure project.

The Brief

Replace with: HS2 is the UK’s new high-speed railway and Europe’s largest infrastructure project. Counter Context provided a full-time secondee to support HS2 Ltd.’s Phase 2b Engagement Team from 2017 to 2020.

Bechtel required prompt supply of resource with an understanding of the political landscape and experience in delivering simultaneously nationally significant and locally contentious infrastructure projects.

What We Did

We promptly supplied a team member with an understanding of the regional political landscape and experience in delivering nationally significant and locally contentious infrastructure projects.

Our team member supported the project for three years, assuming a range of project responsibilities during this time. These involved undertaking direct engagement and consultation with stakeholders ranging from directly affected residents to elected representatives throughout West and North Yorkshire.

In a more centralised role, our secondee supported the project through several route-wide consultations by providing strategic coordination advice. This included developing and implementing a strategy for engaging directly affected parties along the entire Phase 2b route, processes for securely recording stakeholder information, and the management and reporting of engagement risk.

Outcome

Our support to the project was increased at the client’s request, both in terms of scope and duration. During our three years on the project, we supported our client in sensitively delivering a significant volume of engagement on a very high-profile scheme, developing long-term stakeholder relationships, and designing and implementing central processes to improve the consistency and robustness of engagement.

Miller Turner Group
Managing consultation and engagement for a £200 million energy recovery centre in Lancashire.

The Brief

We were appointed to plan, execute and manage public consultation, media and stakeholder engagement for a proposed £200 million energy recovery centre in Lancashire.

What We Did

The development of energy recovery centres often prompts questions from the local community, media and political representatives. They can also come under scrutiny from campaign groups. Our role was to ensure accurate information was made available in a transparent way and that Miller Turner was able to demonstrate that it was actively engaging with interested parties. This required working with the technical team to demonstrate active engagement with interested parties.

Counter Context undertook a full pre-application consultation, hosting two drop-in community events and distributing information to over 5,500 properties. Meetings were held with community representatives, local journalists and Preston and Lancashire Councils, and a site visit was arranged to a similar facility elsewhere in the country. We also represented Miller Turner in radio interviews to communicate the plans widely and answer questions.

Outcome

Our strategy for constructive and open public consultation and stakeholder engagement resulted in Planning and Development Committees at both Preston City Council and Lancashire County Council (as determining authority) approving the planning application in late 2019.

Ørsted
Hornsea One and Two Offshore Windfarms

The Brief

Ørsted is the world’s largest offshore wind developer, with 12 operational offshore wind farms in the UK alone. Ørsted required stakeholder engagement and liaison support during construction of Hornsea One and Two offshore wind farms. Once constructed, they will collectively produce enough electricity to power over 2.3 million UK homes.

What We Did

We managed stakeholder management and communications during the complex delivery phase of Hornsea One offshore wind farm, which became fully operational in 2019. This included supporting the development and management of a stakeholder engagement strategy for all stakeholder groups along a 40 km long onshore cable route in North Lincolnshire.

Given the scale and complexity of this project, we established and furthered our understanding of the local context through a Community Liaison Officer, ensuring effective communication and two-way dialogue in response to sensitive stakeholder issues.

Support during the construction phase of Hornsea One also included the production of bespoke community newsletters and management of community exhibitions, showcasing Ørsted’s regional and local presence and wider promotion of the benefits of offshore wind.

Outcome

The successful delivery of Hornsea One, and in turn 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, has helped maintain Ørsted’s reputation as the world’s leading offshore wind developer. We also helped establish Ørsted’s regional reputation as a responsible developer in the local community, evidenced by the continued strong relationships between Ørsted and key local stakeholders.

Since 2014, we have supported our client in successfully achieving key construction milestones and ensuring effective and robust engagement on sensitive stakeholder issues. We have continued to develop long-term stakeholder relationships throughout the construction of Hornsea Two, which is on schedule to be completed in 2022. Together, Hornsea One and Two will become the largest offshore wind farms in the world.

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