Details:
- Company: WSP
- Client: Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCC)
- Year: 2023 - 2024
- Region: Wales
- Product: WSP’s ConnectALL, Unity
Service areas:
- Community engagement
- Visualisation, 3D modelling and animations
- Geographical information systems (GIS) and mapping
Introduction
Caerphilly County Borough Council approached WSP to support them in their planning application for a £12 million, 20Megawatts capacity Solar Farm on land at Cwm Ifor Farm, South Wales. This proposal is designated a Development of National Significance (DNS) status and, if approved, would be the largest public authority-owned solar farm in Wales.
WSP provided a virtual Public Consultation that ensured compliance with the Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) rule in Wales, which mandates that significant projects must engage with the local community to inform them about the project, gather feedback, and address any concerns before submitting a planning application.
WSP provided a virtual Public Consultation that ensured compliance with the Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) rule in Wales, which mandates that significant projects must engage with the local community to inform them about the project, gather feedback, and address any concerns before submitting a planning application.
Challenges
• Bilingual Requirements: The virtual room needed to be accessible in both Welsh and English.
• Ease of Navigation: The room had to be easy to navigate and display technical information interactively.
• Mirroring Physical Exhibitions: The virtual room needed to mirror physical exhibitions exactly.
• Feedback Mechanism: It was essential to provide a mechanism for feedback.
• Educational and Informative: The room had to be educational, transparent, and informative.
• Ease of Navigation: The room had to be easy to navigate and display technical information interactively.
• Mirroring Physical Exhibitions: The virtual room needed to mirror physical exhibitions exactly.
• Feedback Mechanism: It was essential to provide a mechanism for feedback.
• Educational and Informative: The room had to be educational, transparent, and informative.
Solutions
• Discovery Workshop: Important elements were quickly identified during a discovery workshop.
• Interactive Map: The team developed and implemented an interactive map to display hotspots, providing a cost-effective mapping resource.
• Interactive Sliders: Interactive sliders were developed, allowing users to compare existing and proposed images from selected viewpoints.
• Environmental Statement: The Environmental Statement, a large and technical document, was split up by chapter, allowing for more direct access to the contents via a banner. This reduced the data load on the user and made the document easier to navigate.
• Bilingual Interface: The virtual room allowed users to enter in either Welsh or English.
• Feedback Email: A specific email address was provided to enable further feedback.
• Interactive Map: The team developed and implemented an interactive map to display hotspots, providing a cost-effective mapping resource.
• Interactive Sliders: Interactive sliders were developed, allowing users to compare existing and proposed images from selected viewpoints.
• Environmental Statement: The Environmental Statement, a large and technical document, was split up by chapter, allowing for more direct access to the contents via a banner. This reduced the data load on the user and made the document easier to navigate.
• Bilingual Interface: The virtual room allowed users to enter in either Welsh or English.
• Feedback Email: A specific email address was provided to enable further feedback.
Results
This case study highlights the comprehensive approach taken by WSP to address the challenges posed by the Cwm Ifor Solar Farm project and the effective solutions implemented to improve stakeholder engagement and information dissemination.
• Informed Stakeholders: Early feedback responses showed that 100% of persons viewing the room felt more informed.
• Accessible Planning Documents: A large number of planning documents were made available via the room for stakeholders.
• Environmental Documents: A large number of environmental documents and studies were made available via the room for stakeholders.
• Feedback Mechanism: The specific email address provided enabled further feedback.
• Informed Stakeholders: Early feedback responses showed that 100% of persons viewing the room felt more informed.
• Accessible Planning Documents: A large number of planning documents were made available via the room for stakeholders.
• Environmental Documents: A large number of environmental documents and studies were made available via the room for stakeholders.
• Feedback Mechanism: The specific email address provided enabled further feedback.
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