Funding uplift for coastal and rural communities

Coastal and rural communities across the UK will receive an increase in funding from the government to go towards new community facilities, better transport links and a boost for investments. This will bring community benefits for groups that live near offshore wind, onshore wind and solar farms.

Coastal and rural environments play a huge role in green energy development through hosting vital projects that bring down energy bills, boost security, and increase sustainability, and this extra funding recognises that. This investment could be used for a variety of projects depending on each areas need, such as new football pitches, initiatives to get young people into employment, or better transport links.

The amount of funding delegated to communities will depend on the size of infrastructure projects, and could be from tens of thousand of pounds a year for small developments and up to millions of pounds each year for large-scale developments.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “If you live near an offshore wind or solar farm, your local community should benefit from supporting this nationally critical mission.

“The Prime Minister’s mission to become a clean energy superpower is creating good well-paid jobs in these areas, building the infrastructure we need to get energy bills down for working people.”

This builds on an earlier announcement this week that coastal communities would benefit from a £360 million Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, which will lower the barrier to entry for UK seafood exporters and businesses, and a new twelve-year fisheries access agreement with the EU.