Social acceptability of a wind turbine blade facility in Kingston upon hull

Abstract

In November 2016, Siemens Gamesa started construction of its £310-million, off-shore wind turbine blade assembly facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull in the UK. This paper adopted a mixed method approach, that is, maps, charts and tables and meta analysis to investigate the social acceptability of local residents to such investments using feedback from three residents’ surveys conducted over a period of nearly 3 years. The study is a first of its kind as it presents a real case study of social acceptability of a large manufacturing facility, located close to a residential area, that significantly changed the landscape of the area. The findings indicate that residents on the whole favour such investments because of the economic opportunities. For instance, over 1000 direct jobs were created with the Office for National Statistics reporting a growth of 4.2% in Kingston upon Hull's economic output in 2016–2018. Similarly, Demos-PwC Growth for Cities Index 2018 ranked it, the third-most improved UK city to live and work. However, there were some concerns especially from those living close to the facility regarding issues like noise from ships docking and loading during the night and the obstruction of the scenery of the estuary by an erected sound barrier. The study also shows that it is important for the investors to work closely with local stakeholders and residents to maximise the returns whiles minimising the negatives.