Devon Communities Together has been newly appointed as an independent and impartial community engagement organisation to gather the views of residents across Rockbeare and Aylesbeare Parishes about their current needs for services and facilities in light of a proposed new solar power and green infrastructure facility.
Ford Oaks Solar & Green Infrastructure Facility (adjacent to the A30 and Marsh Green) would provide c.45 hectares of green infrastructure and c.29 hectares of solar generating 30MW of green renewable energy, equivalent to the power consumed in 2020 by c.18,500 homes across the EX5 2 postcode area.
With over 60 years’ expertise in community engagement and consultation, particularly in rural communities, Devon Communities Together has recently been commissioned by the Ford Oaks team to begin a public consultation starting in June 2022. Acting independently and impartially, Devon Communities Together will be gathering the views of Councillors, Parish Councils and residents of Rockbeare, Marsh Green and Aylesbeare through a range of activities such as surveys, focus groups, public events and more.
As part of the development process, it is necessary to understand the needs for community services and facilities in the area. Residents will be asked to contribute their thoughts and opinions based on their engagement with local community and voluntary groups. All views, ideas and thoughts from the community will be included in a final report, produced by Devon Communities Together, that will be publicly available later this year.
Victoria Grimberg, Project Manager at Devon Communities Together commented: “As Devon’s Rural Community Council we are here to support and enable communities, and we have a huge amount of experience in managing community consultation and engagement services working with communities across rural Devon
“We are currently in the planning stages of this community consultation, which will begin later this month, but we want to reassure people that we are here to ensure that everyone’s voices can be heard and represented during this process. We have been commissioned to gather the views of the community accurately and impartially, and we will make sure that all our consultation activities are as inclusive as possible so everyone has an opportunity to get involved.
“We welcome early contact with representatives of community and voluntary groups as well as informal groups of individuals with ideas for enhancing local community and social facilities and services. We would ideally like to use the opportunities presented by existing events to come along and talk to people locally, so if you’re already running an event where people may like to chat to us, please get in touch.”
To get in touch with Devon Communities Together, email info@devoncommunities.org.uk, call 01392 248919 or visit www.devoncommunities.org.uk.
For more information about The Ford Oaks Solar & Green Infrastructure Facility please visit the dedicated website https://fordoakssolarnature.co.uk/.