Cubico partners with Groundwork to Shape the Scout Moor II Community Wealth Fund

Cubico has appointed environmental charity Groundwork as its delivery partner to help shape and guide the Community Wealth Fund proposed as part of the Scout Moor II onshore wind farm.

The partnership marks the next step in Cubico’s commitment to ensuring that the Fund, expected to deliver around half a million pounds per year for the lifetime of the project, is designed and managed in a way that is fair, transparent, and genuinely reflects the priorities of local people in Rossendale and Rochdale.

The collaboration builds on the principles set out in Cubico’s Community Benefit Charter for Scout Moor II, which is founded on three key commitments: open and honest engagement with communities, investment in local priorities and the creation of new opportunities for local people and businesses.

Working together, Cubico and Groundwork will begin a new phase of community engagement to gather views on how the Fund should operate, what local priorities it should support, and how decisions can best be made in the future.

Groundwork brings decades of experience supporting communities to access and manage funding for environmental, social, and economic projects. Their role will be to help establish a clear framework for how the Fund could be distributed and governed, including the creation of an independent local body to oversee it long term.

Peter Rowe, Project Lead for Scout Moor II at Cubico, said:

“The Community Wealth Fund is about making sure local people see real, lasting benefits from hosting nationally important infrastructure. At Scout Moor II, we’re setting a higher standard than other existing wind farms in the area - going beyond recent government guidance and building on the best examples seen across the UK and in Scotland over the past decade.

From the outset, we’ve said this fund should be owned and governed by the community itself. Bringing Groundwork on board is an important step to ensure the process for co-designing and delivering the fund is fair, inclusive, and genuinely independent. We hope local people, groups, and charities get involved and help shape its lasting impact.”

Michaela Howell, Director of Communities & Neighbourhoods at Groundwork Greater Manchester said:

“We are pleased to support the creation of the Scout Moor Community Wealth Fund; putting the power of investment directly into the hands of local people. This isn't about top-down decisions; this is about £600,000 a year being spent on local priorities, chosen by local people, ensuring the wind farm generates positive, lasting impact for this generation and the next.”

The Fund would be based on the greater of £6,000 per megawatt of installed capacity or 3% of annual project revenues, whichever is greater. On the basis of the current 100 MW scheme, this would equate to over half a million pounds per year.   

The consultation, hosted by Groundwork, will be open to residents, community organisations and local stakeholders across the surrounding areas.

Details of how to get involved will be shared in the coming weeks at:

www.groundwork.org.uk/scout-moor-community-fund-consultation