Community
LISTENING TO OUR COMMUNITIES
A public information day during the Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind Consultation in 2023
Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind has always adopted an open approach with our communities and stakeholders.
As part of our Development Consent Order application, we ran five rounds of consultation up and down the project route to raise awareness about our plans and get feedback on our project to help inform the design. In total, nearly 1500 people attended 16 public engagement events where the team answered many questions about the development and . We also gained useful feedback via the 100 written responses, 70 phone calls and over 240 feedback forms that were sent to the project during the consultations.
Our consultation period closed in 2024, but we still welcome queries from members of the public. Our email, freepost and freephone contact services ensure that local communities can easily get in touch with the project.
COMMUNITY LIAISON GROUPS
A meeting of the Substation Community Liaison Group in 2024
Engaging with the local communities in Lincolnshire is a critical part of our development and project design process. We setup Community Liaison Groups in 2022 to update local representatives on project developments and hear feedback from the local communities. There are four active Community Liaison Groups across the consultation zone.
The Community Liaison Group that covers the substation also acts as a design review panel for the substation, where representatives are providing feedback on certain design elements of the substation such as colour and roof design. More details about the substation community liaison group, along with presentations and minutes from all the community liaison groups, can be found here.
INVESTING IN COMMUNITIES
COMMUNITY BENEFIT FUND
The Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind team after a volunteering event with the Boston Woods Trust in 2023
Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind plans to launch a community benefit fund after the project reaches financial close, estimated for 2027.
The fund is currently in development, but following early consultation with communities, it is likely that the fund will support projects that fall within the following themes:
NATURE POSITIVE
Supporting local biodiversity and improving access of communities to local sites of interest.
STEM AND SKILLS
Investing in science, technology, engineering and maths education to help develop the skilled workforce of the future.
COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Investing in community activities that will support the health and wellbeing of those closest to the project area.
More details about the development of the Community Benefit Fund can be found in the Community Liaison Group presentations [hyper link to the Feb 2024 CLG presentation]
Sign up for project updates to keep up to date on developments about our community outreach and community benefit fund launch.
OUTER DOWSING IN THE COMMUNITY
Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind Engineers speaking to secondary school students at a careers day in 2024
Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind wishes to support local community organisations who are working with the communities close to our project area, from Anderby Creek to Surfleet Marsh.
If you have an idea for a project that aligns with the future community benefit fund themes we would like to hear from you. We would particularly like to hear from organisations that wish to focus on STEM and nature positive projects and supporting local community events.
We are unable to fund the following:
- Construction projects
- Organisations that promote any kind of discrimination
- Organisations that target a single person
- Religious organisations, trade unions or political parties
- Running costs (e.g. salaries)
Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind is also keen to support young people in the area by raising aspirations and awareness about careers in renewables. In 2024 the team attended careers events from Alford to Spalding with over 5800 attendees. In 2025 Outer Dowsing Offshore wind will sponsor Future Fest, enabling an additional 500 students to attend the event.
If you are hosting a careers event in our project area and would like the Outer Dowsing team to attend please email contact@outerdowsing.com. Please note due to demand we have to prioritise schools and colleges that are closest to our communities, and are not always able to attend depending on existing commitments.