Putting communities at the heart of strategic energy planning: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand argues that strategic energy planning needs to prioritise communities alongside infrastructure.
The report puts the case for reframing community engagement from something done to secure acceptance of infrastructure to an integral part of the strategic planning architecture. It presents the SSEP, along with the RESP and CSNP, as an opportunity to acknowledge and mitigate cumulative impacts and consider community priorities at the same level at which infrastructure need and location are being decided. Currently there is a risk that this responsibility is left to communities and individual projects, leading to consultation fatigue and an unfair burden on local people.
The report’s central argument is that the move to strategic spatial energy planning gives the UK an opportunity to change not just where infrastructure is built, but how communities are involved in deciding what happens.
A different approach to strategic energy planning
The UK’s new strategic energy planning framework is an opportunity to do more than identify where infrastructure should go. It can create a clearer relationship between national energy needs and the places expected to accommodate the infrastructure required to meet them.
The experience of Australia and New Zealand shows that this requires communities to be considered from the outset: understanding cumulative impacts, building local capacity, creating opportunities for local economic participation and benefits, and involving people while strategic choices can still be influenced.
The success of strategic energy planning should therefore be judged not only by the quality of the plans produced, but by how effectively they shape subsequent decisions and deliver positive outcomes for the communities affected.
Regen's focus on the SSEP
Regen has long advocated for a strategically planned energy system and sits on the SSEP expert advisory panel, where our role is to provide technical insight, advice and challenge on the process, and raise the views of industry.
We are actively involved in discussions with our members ahead of the SSEP public consultation next year. Please get in touch with Rebecca if you would like to share your views.
