Views sought on proposal for South of Scotland Standard for onshore wind community benefits
South of Scotland Enterprise - with assistance from Dumfries & Galloway and Scottish Borders councils - has launched a second round of engagement on proposals to create a South of Scotland Standard for community benefits from onshore wind.
The consultation follows agreement at the September meeting of the South of Scotland Regional Economic Partnership.
It aims to seek views on a regional Standard which would aim to make best practice the norm across every community in Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders.
Better Benefit project
It is a key step in our Better Benefit project, which aims to ensure communities consistently receive the highest standard of community benefit from renewable energy developments.
The proposals are based on extensive engagement over the past year with community councils and development trusts.
This engagement asked for their experience of negotiating and managing community benefit funds, and their ideas for improvement.
There is significant national consideration of the future of community benefits arrangements through the Scottish Government's review of the existing voluntary Good Practice Principles, while the UK Government is consulting this year on a potential mandatory scheme.
Analysis of community benefits potential
Independent analysis by BiGGAR Economics in 2023 found that onshore wind community benefit has delivered around £30million to South of Scotland communities to date, with up to £900m potentially being generated over the next 35 years - almost 30 times what has been received so far.
Draft South of Scotland Standard
Draft South of Scotland Standard includes nine key themes:
• High-quality community engagement from first point of contact
• A standardised minimum community benefit payment
• Transparency and accountability
• Local flexibility in how funds are used
• Investing in community capacity
• Contractual security for agreements
• Tackling barriers to shared ownership
• Retrospectivity for older agreements
• A voluntary charter mark for developers
Take part in consultation
The consultation on the South of Scotland Standard is open until 5pm on Monday 16 February 2026 and can be completed online here.
Russel Griggs, Chair of South of Scotland Enterprise, said:
“Community benefits belong to communities - and that’s the way it should be.
“Our interest is in ensuring, as best we can, that both community benefit and the wider economic contribution of renewables are as strong as possible.
“These proposals reflect what we heard. They build on the Scottish Government’s Good Practice Principles but go further.
“Our goal is for what is currently regarded as best practice to become standard practice right across our region. No community deserves less than that.”
Rob Davidson, SOSE’s Strategy Manager for Community Wealth Building, added:
“The feedback we have received so far has been very helpful and much appreciated but we want to involve as many organisations as possible.
“This second round of engagement is about gathering views on the principles that would underpin a South of Scotland Standard for community benefits.
“We encourage community councils, development trusts, local organisations and residents across the South to respond.”