Hornsea 3 Community Fund

Ørsted is committed to making a positive impact in the communities where they construct and operate their offshore wind farms and other projects. Ørsted has therefore committed to providing a Community Benefit Fund (CBF), worth £700,000 each year for an initial 10 year period from its Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm development. The CBF is still subject to Orsted making a positive Financial Investment Decision (FID) to develop the site which is expected in the Summer of 2023.

Community Consultation

GrantScape was appointed to carry out a community consultation exercise to seek views and support from local stakeholders on how this new Fund should be set up. This exercise ran between August 2022 and March 2023. The final summary report of the consultation can be read by clicking on the image below. Further details about the consultation process can be read further, below.

When can I apply for a grant from the Hornsea 3 Community Fund?

We are currently working with the local Advisory Panel to finalise the details about the Fund. It is expected the Fund will open to applications later in the Summer. Full details will be posted here soon.

Current applications to the East Coast Community Fund (ECCF)

Projects located in Norfolk within the current ECCF boundary should continue to apply to the ECCF until the new Hornsea 3 Community Fund is launched.

More About the Fund and the Community Consultation Process

The boundary for the proposed Hornsea 3 Community Fund will start at the Lincolnshire/Norfolk county boundary and follow along a 5km coastal strip to just south of Lowestoft in Suffolk. In addition, there is a 5km zone which follows the route of the proposed electrical cabling that will connect to the main Electricity Grid.

Ørsted already provides funding to the East Coast Community Fund (ECCF) via donations from Hornsea One, and Race Bank offshore wind farms. This Fund has already awarded over £2.5M to nearly 200 community, environmental and educational projects over the past 5 years and helped to make a real impact for those living within the coastal funding zone. The ECCF boundary follows a coastal strip from Bridlington in East Yorkshire to Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. You can view the ECCF by clicking here.

When the new Fund is opened to applications, communities located in the current ECCF funding area in Norfolk will apply for funding from the Hornsea 3 Community Fund.

Please click here to see a map of the current ECCF funding boundary.

Please click the map image below, to view the proposed Hornsea 3 Community Fund area:

What was the purpose of the consultation?

The criteria for the ECCF was established following an extensive community consultation process back in 2016. The results of the consultation helped to shape the criteria, and over the years these have proven to work well. Application quality and numbers have remained consistently high over the five years that the Fund has been running.

It is proposed that the Hornsea 3 Community Fund follows a similar approach to the ECCF in terms of the types of projects it supports. The purpose of the consultation was therefore to ask local stakeholders whether they agreed with, and were supportive of (or not), continuing along the same funding themes for the new Hornsea 3 Community Fund. These themes are:

• Community Actives and Services
• Community Buildings and Facilities
• Sports and Recreation Activities
• Environmental and Wildlife Projects as well as Public Open Spaces
• STEM Education and Skills grants

The consultation asked for views about the size of grants, match funding and whether the fund should support capital and / or revenue grants.

Who did we want to receive views from?

We requested views from individuals, voluntary and community organisations, local charities, sports and wildlife groups, parish councils, elected councillors, local authorities, educational establishments, etc. that are located in, or may be delivering projects within, the defined benefit area shown in the map above.

Those located outside of the proposed area were also invited to participate. The boundary itself was not open to consultation. This is because both Ørsted and GrantScape are keen to continue a consistent approach for all of the Ørsted Community Funds whereby the funding supports the coastal communities within a defined 5km zone, the cabling route and other areas of the project construction (including the Parish of Oulton).

What was involved in the consultation?

The consultation process had three stages:

1. Online Survey

The first step of the consultation process was an online public survey. This closed on 7 November 2022. Thank you to all those that completed it.

2. Meetings with Key Stakeholders

The second step was a consultation between GrantScape and key stakeholders including Local Authorities and voluntary and community infrastructure organisations and allowed discussions regarding the findings of the Stage 1 survey. These meetings were held in December 2022 and January 2023.

3. Public Events

A number of public drop-in events were held in February 2023. Those located within the designated funding zone, or with a potential project idea which will be delivered in the area, were invited to attend to have an informal chat with members of the GrantScape team.

Drop-events were held as per the table below:

The above events related to the Hornsea 3 Community Fund, only. Events relating to the development, itself, were held separately.

For those who were unable to attend the drop-in events in person, two virtual Zoom events were held on Thursday 16 February 2023 and Friday 17 February 2023.

Why is the funding area for the ECCF changing?

The ECCF has an Advisory Panel of local voluntary representatives stretching from Bridlington to North Norfolk. To simply extend the ECCF boundary and include the new Hornsea 3 CBF within it would not only create an Advisory Panel too big in number to manage, but might risk each area not having sufficient local representation.

The two panel members currently representing the ECCF within Norfolk (Community Action Norfolk and King’s Lynn and West Norfolk District Council) will be the first two names on the Hornsea 3 Community Fund Panel.

Therefore, communities located in the current ECCF funding area in Norfolk will apply to the Hornsea 3 Community Fund, when this area becomes part of the new Fund.

Frequently Asked Questions

A ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page was available to answer any additional queries.

Contact details

If you would like to be added to our mailing list for updates on the progress of the Hornsea 3 Community Fund please send an email to hornsea3@grantscape.org.uk. You are also very welcome to call us on 01908 247630 between 9am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

You can also subscribe to our 6-monthly Orsted CBF newsletter by clicking here (note this a separate list to the Hornsea 3 Community Fund direct mailings).

Development Enquires

If you have any questions about the Hornsea 3 development itself, please direct them to: Community@hornsea3.co.uk or call 0800 158 2354.