Community Benefit Fund – Our approach

A Community Benefit Fund is a voluntary commitment by a developer to pay into a fund which is then made available to finance community projects. Community benefit funds can offer an opportunity for the local community to access long-term, reliable, and flexible funding to directly enhance their local area, economy, society, and environment.

The value of the fund will be based on £1,000 per MW per year output of the solar farm. Staveley Solar Farm has a maximum power output of 40MW resulting in an annual community benefit fund of £40,000. The community benefit fund will be available for the operational lifetime of the solar farm. The solar farm is expected to operate for 30 years. If the solar farm operates beyond this, the community benefit fund will be extended in line with the lifetime of the solar farm.

The fund will be open to proposals from the community to promote social and environmental prosperity and will prioritise funding in the following areas:

• Climate and Environmental improvements
• Youth Inclusion and Education
• Road Safety
• Cultural Dialogue and Heritage

The Community Liaison Group will have discretion to support projects outside of these areas if the community can demonstrate a significant need.

However, the fund will not support:​

• Organisations that promote any kind of discrimination​
• Religious organisations, trade unions and political parties ​
• Organisations that target or support an individual​
• Partnerships that require money to pay for salaries ​

The Community Benefit Fund will be managed by a Community Liaison Group which will consist of a representative from the Operator of the project, a representative from Anglian Water and representatives from the communities local to the site.

This Community Liaison Group will have responsibility for agreeing:

• A clearly defined purpose for the fund that correspond to local needs and priorities
• When the fund will begin making payments
• The size and frequency of fund pay-outs
• The payments that will be made and what – if anything – the payments depend upon
• What – if any – obligations the beneficiary has to the fund such as auditing and reporting
• How disputes should be dealt with

The mechanism for administering the benefits will be decided once the Community Liaison Group is in place. The fund’s operation is determined by the successful start-up of the Staveley Solar Farm.

You can submit any ideas through our project email address (info@staveleysolar.co.uk)