Our commitment to community and communications

With today being Community Engagement Day, we wanted to really highlight the importance of engagement and interaction between ourselves and the local communities around the Bradwell B site.

We know that regardless of the benefits, a project the size of Bradwell B brings with it potentially big impacts for a local community, and creates considerable interest from members of that community concerned about their environment. A project of this size can also open up huge opportunities for the community, through high quality jobs, economic growth, skills and training initiatives.

Understanding and managing these impacts, and realising these benefits, is most effectively done through collaboration with local communities.

At Bradwell B we are committed to open engagement with those affected by all aspects of the development, including neighbouring communities, local authorities, and relevant regulatory bodies. We have a number of ways people can learn about the project, speak to the team or provide feedback and we are always interested to hear how we can improve.

Last year, we had over 25,000 visits to our website, attended over 180 stakeholder meetings and received more than 2,000 responses to our Stage One consultation. We also introduced our Community Forum which is an important way for us to hear from representatives of the community, whatever their views, and develop constructive working relationships.

Answering the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic, and the obvious need to keep people safe, we have introduced ways to engage with members of our neighbouring communities remotely. For example, during the Stage One consultation we introduced an online virtual exhibition to showcase our proposals and we hosted consultations in phone and video surgeries supported by a wide range of communications: sent to people’s homes; through additional advertising; and via social media. We are continuing this good practice outside of formal consultation and there is always an opportunity for anyone with questions about Bradwell B to speak directly with the team.

Communication channels are only half the picture; Bradwell B is working with community representatives to put long-term plans in place to ensure we build lasting relationships with the local communities. This includes our Community Fund, which exists for us to support good causes in the community.

Bradwell B’s Community Relations Manager, Stephen Bray said: “We want to get to know the community and have a responsibility to let them know what we are doing, listen to what they have to say and then feed that back into the project. We see these as long-term relationships and although not everyone will agree with our proposals, we are keen to engage with people and hear their comments and concerns.

“It is hard at the moment as the team can’t get out to meet people face-to-face. We hope later this year we will be able to do in-person meetings, but until then we are more than happy to talk to people about the project and answer their questions online or on the phone.”

The Bradwell B team is keen to keep talking to our neighbours, to the community and with key stakeholders, you can contact us online, social media or telephone.