This July, Burnham and Weston Energy proudly welcomed councillors, policy leads, and senior officers from across the South West to Wick Solar Farm as part of the South West Net Zero Hub’s Seeing is Believing community energy tour.
The event brought together councillors, policy leads, and senior officers from across local government and the voluntary sector to see first-hand how community-owned renewables can be a trusted partner in delivering on the government’s Local Power Plan, which aims to see 8GW of new community energy projects by 2030.
The tour aimed to inspire and inform senior decision-makers on the real-world potential of community energy partnerships to support decarbonisation, generate social value and deliver resilient local energy infrastructure.
As Burnham and Weston Energy’s asset manager, Communities for Renewables (CfR) supports the long-term operation, financial performance and impact delivery of the solar farm, helping to ensure it delivers lasting benefits for the local community. Jake Burnyeat, shared the story of the enterprise’s development, financing and joint-ownership model designed to keep value circulating locally.
Attendees also met members of Burnham and Weston Energy’s Home Energy Advice team, who presented powerful case studies on how they’re helping local households manage rising energy bills. Their free, expert advice helps residents manage and lower bills, access grants and keep warm at home, demonstrating that community energy is about more than generation; it’s about tackling energy inequality at its root.
CfR’s Harry Barlow led a technical tour of the site, explaining how it operates, the technical systems in place and the measures taken to manage the land for wildlife with nature as a priority. He guided visitors around one of the site’s key habitat features, ponds maintained specifically to support a healthy population of great crested newts. These rare and protected amphibians are a sign of the site’s rich biodiversity.
Burnham and Weston Energy was delighted to welcome a wide range of attendees, including:
- Natasha Dix, Service Director Waste, Environment & Planning, Isle of Wight Council
- Martin Horwood and Richard Pineger, Councillors, Gloucestershire and Cheltenham
- David Witherspoon, Community Energy Manager, National Grid Electricity Distribution
- Sarah Danson, Head of Environment & Waste, Gloucestershire
- Swapna Uddin, Regional Local Net Zero Lead, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
- Teams from Bath & West Community Energy, Empowered, and Bristol Energy Cooperative
The Burnham and Weston Energy visit was one of three stops on the South West Net Zero Hub’s tour, which also included sessions at the Hilton in Bristol and Ambition Lawrence Weston’s landmark community wind turbine, now the largest onshore turbine in England. A huge thank you to everyone who joined, contributed, or helped make the day run smoothly.