Community Benefit

We are committed to working with the communities around the project site. BESSes have the ability to do a considerable amount of good for the community, including for the community of Leitholm, Eccles and Birgham, plus wider Berwickshire and Scottish Borders.  There is no legal requirement to provide community benefit with a BESS, but we want to help.  Should this scheme become operational, Pittlesheugh Farm BESS Ltd will make an annual payment of £25,000, to help fund local community projects, programmes or charities. This will be index linked to allow for inflation. Over the 40 year lifetime of the project this would amount to over £1,000,000 of funds to support local groups, charities and projects. If you have any comments on how the funds could be used, please let us know.

We will try to coordinate with the other BESS developments, encouraging them to contribute similar amounts to the same vehicle.  It may be best to set up an Economic Development Trust, a vehicle for community donations which would be owned and managed by the local community.  We will take advice from Development Trust Association Scotland.