Management of benefits. The Occupancy agreement gives the Owner access to certain levels of benefits as specified in Appendix 3 based on their status. The nature of the benefits available can be seen on xxx.xxxxxxxxx.xxx as well as the conditions and the period during which the offer is available. This list is regularly updated by Tignes Développement. Each Owner partner can manage his or her benefits at xxx.xxxxxxxxx.xxx in the Owners’ section. Ordering a benefit MUST be carried out online via the benefit management platform. All benefits must be ordered at least 2 weeks in advance (LIST OF BENEFITS IN APPENDIX 3).
Management of benefits. How and by whom community benefits are managed in practice can be a contentious issue. Large sums of money over a long timescale can be involved, and issues of fairness and accountability are important. Some researchers (see for example Xxxx and Xxxxxxxxxx 2013) have drawn attention to a distinction in approach which applies not only to the management of benefits, but also to the scale and types involved. A legally imposed approach is one where the scale, type and preconditions of benefits are largely determined beforehand in legislation; in contrast, a locally-negotiated approach involves negotiation between the key players at the local level without a legislative framework, followed by some form of formal agreement between the negotiating parties. Much of the guidance and the toolkits already noted, support a strong role for local negotiation, with developers encouraged to engage openly with local communities to assess their needs, benefits models and potential beneficiary communities. In practice there may also be some combination of approaches, with a framework set by national legislation or guidance, but still with some scope for local negotiation. A framework approach may also be set at a more regional level. It may also be set by the industry itself, as exemplified by the protocol on community benefits developed by Renewable UK (‘the voice of wind and marine energy’) in 2013 in relation to on-shore wind farms in England of 5MW and above. Local negotiation does raise the issue of who represents the community, and the role of local government and local politicians. In practice this can lead to a choice between either working through existing local councils or setting up new organisations, such as a Community Trust Fund, to manage the CBA process. Important here is the degree of community confidence in local politicians and officers to operate impartially, representing all the community and not just the decision making authorities. Xxxxxx et al (2011), from their research in Wales, highlight examples of considerable scepticism of local people with regard to the capacity of local authorities to manage the process in the best interests of the relevant communities. There are pros and cons to the various management models, as set out in Table 3 which relates to a toolkit for wind energy development in the UK (CSE 2009). Where a CBA is managed through the local authority, there may be merit in the use of a role such as a local authority Developer Contributi...
