Challenge
NuGen needed to carry out a robust and inclusive public consultation process to support the Development Consent Order (DCO) application for the 3.4-GW Moorside nuclear power station – one of the largest proposed energy infrastructure projects in the UK.
Key challenges included:
- engaging diverse and under- represented communities across Cumbria
- ensuring compliance with Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) consultation regulations while reflecting stakeholder engagement best practice
- managing, analysing and responding to a large volume of public feedback to inform scheme design.
Approach
Copper designed and delivered a comprehensive, multichannel consultation programme that met both statutory requirements and stakeholder expectations.
This included:
- organising more than 60 public consultation events across two formal rounds to ensure widespread community participation
- building a targeted outreach strategy for hard-to-reach audiences, including young people and schools, using a bespoke engagement database
- operating a dedicated contact centre covering phone, email, web and postal channels to handle public enquiries efficiently
- creating and managing an online feedback platform and systematically analysing more than 2,000 responses to extract key insights for the project team.
Value delivered
- Facilitated consultation with over 4500 attendees, significantly raising awareness and visibility of the Moorside project
- Analysed more than half a million words of feedback, identifying 1045 discrete issues to inform design and development
- Supported refinements to the project in response to community input, strengthening the DCO
- Improved public understanding of the project’s scale, impacts and benefits, helping to build trust and support in key communities