Guidance

What is a Community Vision?

Updated 5 December 2024

The role of the GDF Community Partnership

The Community Partnership is formed of representatives from community groups, organisations and individuals, at least one relevant principal local authority and Nuclear Waste Services (NWS). The Community Partnership facilitates discussions with the community and identifies relevant information that people in the area want or need about the siting process. It is the key vehicle for community dialogue with NWS.

The Community Partnership’s role includes working directly with local people to create a Community Vision. This means actively involving the community in how they would like their community to evolve and to consider the part that a GDF may play in that Vision becoming a reality.

The Community Vision reflects a community’s hopes and aspirations; it’s a catalyst for conversation and for the community to decide whether they wish to protect what already is there or potentially evolve over time.

The aim is for the Community Partnership to hear a wide range of inputs from across the community to ensure all voices are heard in helping to shape the Community Vision. Every Community Partnership will carry out their own engagement activities to maximise community input during the development of the Vision. The Vision will be endorsed by the Community Partnership, and used to help identify local benefits and how a GDF and the accompanying Significant Additional Investment could help deliver them.

The process of building a Vision will help the community to identify and articulate what is important, potentially enhancing existing local and regional policies, strategies and plans, or even developing new ones. The Community Vision will be adapted and refined over time to make sure it reflects the community’s view.

What is Significant Additional Investment?

For a community that is ultimately selected to host a GDF, the Government will provide Significant Additional Investment, bringing community benefits and a lasting positive legacy to the community and area. This investment would be brought to life and shaped by the Community Vision, and could include investments to deliver social, economic, environmental or other benefits. These could include improved local education and skills capacity, improved transport infrastructure or improved recreational facilities.

The Significant Additional Investment will be additional to any funding for planning obligations associated with mitigating impacts during development of a GDF. It will, by definition, be significant and will be comparable to levels of investment in other international GDF projects.

This additional investment will enhance the already significant economic benefits that are inherent in hosting a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, and will recognise the long-term commitment made by the community to the national interest. There may be other priorities that the community identifies through the Visioning process.

A community that receives Significant Additional Investment could expect to benefit from a transformational investment in their area, potentially over many years. The investment will be additional to the Community Investment Funding and Engagement Funding provided during the siting process.

Community Investment Funding is funding that will be available to communities once a Community Partnership is formed and a Community Partnership agreement is signed. Funding of up to £1 million per year per community is available, rising to up to £2.5 million per year for communities where deep borehole investigations take place.

Engagement Funding is intended to cover the cost of Working Groups’ and Community Partnerships’ engagement activities, information-gathering, and support services.

How do the Community Vision and Significant Additional Investment work together?

The Community Vision

A Community Vision is a statement that reflects the community’s goals and priorities and describes how the community might look, feel and be in years to come.

How does the GDF project align with the Community Vision?

GDF implementation provides direct and indirect benefits.

• Direct benefits - thousands of direct jobs; skills and training programmes; business rates.

• Indirect benefits - indirect and induced jobs; improved local infrastructure and services (e.g. transport, environmental protection and safety); hotels and housing boost; business support scheme; property value protection; additional public services funding.

What would enhance the economic benefits of the GDF project and support the Community Vision?

Significant Additional Investment: enhanced benefits.

• Additional investment will be significant - comparable to other international GDF projects.

• Will enhance the inherent significant economic benefits in hosting a GDF and recognise the long-term commitment from the community towards the national interest.

• Investment could include improved local education and skills capacity, improved transport infrastructure or improved recreational facilities.

We’re excited to listen and to learn about the ideas for long-term investment plans and Community Visions from local people and stakeholders.

We’re also looking forward to working together with local planning authorities, to make sure that the Significant Additional Investment reflects the Community Vision, and on their own strategic priorities, making community aspiration a reality for future generations.