Social impact assessment
Image: Spiorad na Mara proposed project and landfall area
Atlantic58 and ERM are working together to undertake a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) of the “Spiorad na Mara” wind farm proposed off the west coast of Lewis, also known as “N4” in the ScotWind offshore wind leasing round.
The main purpose of the SIA is to identify where there is potential for significant impacts on communities from a project. This may include looking at effects on people's way of life, heritage and culture, health & safety and wellbeing, personal and property rights, concerns, fears and aspirations. The SIA will also form part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, which forms a core part of the planning / marine licence application. The study is commissioned by Northland Power, the lead developers of the windfarm, however, the SIA will be an independent assessment undertaken in line with best practice.
In parallel and as part of the SIA process, Atlantic58 has independently secured funding from Innovate UK to develop a targeted SIA assessment methodology in collaboration with researchers from the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). The new methodology will be focused on the unique social and cultural context of the Western Isles to ensure a transparent and robust mechanism of assessing the significance of the potential impacts generated by the Spiorad na Mara project across both the marine and onshore environment.
Focus Groups
As part of the SIA process, invitations have been extended to the public via local community councils to participate in dedicated focus groups, starting from early July. The focus groups are designed to facilitate contributions to the SIA, to understand the key concerns arising from the project, how they may affect communities and the rationale behind the concerns, including local knowledge and experience.
The focus groups are separate from the project stakeholder engagement process currently being led by the developer, Northland Power. This includes community drop-in sessions, which commenced in June, and direct outreach to community councils.
What happens in the Focus Groups?
What: Up to 8 participants per group. There will be a group discussion in a semi-structured format to allow participants to raise topics that are important to them. Participants will be provided with questions beforehand to help them prepare.
Where: At venues in different parts of the island to suit each group.
When: Starting in early July, one session of 2 hours per group. Times and dates are flexible, organised for the convenience of participants. We would like to conduct 3 – 5 focus groups, and we may modify to smaller or online settings depending on responses.
Who: Discussions will be facilitated by team members from Atlantic58, and there may also be a researcher present from UHI.
What if I don’t want people to know my views?
The focus groups will be conducted according to strict ethical guidelines, including free, prior and informed consent, and all contributions will be treated in accordance with UK GDPR data protection guidelines, anonymised and stored securely. No names or other personal details will be shared outside of the Atlantic58 project team. However, if anyone would like to have a private interview or submit a written contribution to ensure total anonymity, we can arrange to do this with a limited number of people.
If you are interested in taking part in the process, we invite people to get in touch directly with us by email: sia@atlantic58.co.uk by 8th July 2024.