Community
Community Benefit Fund
Qualitas Energy is committed to delivering lasting benefits for the communities hosting the Robin Hood Solar Farm proposals. One way in which this can be achieved is through the establishment of a Community Benefit Fund, should planning permission be granted.
A Community Benefit Fund is separate from the planning process. It is not compensation for development and is not a material planning consideration in the determination of a planning application. Instead, it is a voluntary commitment made by a developer to provide funding for projects and initiatives that benefit local communities over the operational life of a development.
There is currently no statutory requirement or nationally prescribed approach governing either the value or administration of Community Benefit Funds associated with solar developments. The level of funding, governance arrangements and distribution mechanisms are therefore determined by individual developers, taking account of the scale of the project, local circumstances and engagement with host communities.
Across the renewable energy sector, industry bodies have published guidance to encourage good practice. For example, Solar Energy UK currently advocates a voluntary Community Benefit Fund of £400 per megawatt (MW)[1] of installed capacity per year for solar developments. This is voluntary guidance rather than a mandatory requirement.
Qualitas Energy’s emerging policy is to provide a Community Benefit Fund of £500 per megawatt (MW) of installed capacity per year, index linked over the operational life of a project. This exceeds the current voluntary industry guidance and reflects Qualitas Energy’s commitment to delivering meaningful, long-term benefits to the communities hosting its projects.
For Robin Hood Solar Farm, this would equate to a community Benefit Fund of approximately £30,000 per year, amounting to around £1.2 million over the anticipated 40-year operational life of the project.
Where a Community Benefit Fund is established, it is commonly administered independently or through a locally agreed governance structure. Funding is typically used to support community-led projects and initiatives such as village facilities, environmental improvements, education, recreation, community resilience and other locally identified priorities. The detailed governance, eligibility criteria and application process for the Robin Hood Solar Farm Community Benefit Fund would be developed through engagement with local stakeholders as the project progresses.
