The Crown Estate
Governed by Act of Parliament, The Crown Estate is tasked to manage and enhance the value of a highly diverse property portfolio across the UK, providing a revenue surplus for the benefit of the UK taxpayer. Above all a commercial organisation, balanced with a strong sense of stewardship, it takes very seriously its responsibility to manage these assets sustainably.
Encompassing four main estates; urban, rural, Windsor and marine, the multi-billion pound property and land portfolio annually contributes over £200 million to the Treasury. The extensive marine assets include 55% of the foreshore, approximately half of the estuary beds and tidal rivers, and virtually the entire seabed out to 12 nautical miles. This includes the rights to explore and utilise the natural resources of the UK continental shelf (excluding oil, gas and coal).
The Crown Estate's third round of offshore wind farm leasing announced in 2008, attracted 40 bids from 18 companies and consortia for a total of nine zones. Award of development agreements was announced on January 8, 2010. The Crown Estate’s ongoing role for Round 3 revolves around programme delivery and zonal contract management; Forewind will work with The Crown Estate to identify suitable wind farm sites within the Dogger Bank zone and thereafter focus on addressing delivery of specific sites.
RenewableUK
RenewableUK is the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries. Each of the Forewind partner companies is a sponsor member of RenewableUK.
The Planning Inspectorate
The Planning Inspectorate is the the government agency responsible for examining planning applications for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIP). Each of the Dogger Bank applications is classed as an NSIP so will require a development consent order application to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. Each application's progress through the examination phase can be followed via a dedicated project page on the Planning Inspectorate's website.