Solar2 appointed McDaid PR to provide community consultation, stakeholder engagement and PR for its proposed solar farm in Burrelton, Perthshire.
We believe developers should always exceed the minimum activity required for planning applications and make a real effort to understand and address any concerns held by local people. Solar2 felt exactly the same.
We gave the site’s neighbours notification of the plans around six months before the application went officially into the public domain - Sarah hand-delivered letters to properties to the site and spoke with neighbours personally.
We held two informal coffee evenings before launching our official community consultation programme. Sarah ensured all statutory requirements were met and acted as a channel between residents and Solar2. Over 150 people attended our first public exhibition, and 50 attended the second.
Several residents complimented Solar2 on its willingness to engage with local people and provide timely, honest information.
Richard Morgan, head of solar for Solar2, said: “Sarah delivered a comprehensive stakeholder engagement and community consultation strategy for Collace solar farm.
“We knew we had an experienced professional who would ensure not only that all statutory requirements were fulfilled, but who would work with us to go above and beyond in our communication with local people.
“This resulted in a stronger final design that better reflected the local community’s views, and residents told us they appreciated the upfront nature of our consultation process.”