Good practice principles for renewable energy developments consultation: analysis of responses

Methodology

Consultation respondents had the opportunity to submit responses via:

• Citizen Space (the Scottish Government consultation platform) 
• Email 
• Hard copy

The majority of the consultation questions contained closed, tick-boxes with options for ‘Yes’, ‘No’, or other, pre-defined answers. However, a small number also included free text boxes to encourage respondents to provide their own feedback.

This report summarises the key findings from the feedback received, including:

• The total number of responses received for a particular question, as well as a percentage of this as a total 
• A breakdown of how respondents answered
• The number of comments made against each question, and a summary of any trends/ patterns identified within these comments

As noted above, some respondents did not use the online portal and presented their views in a report or letter format instead. Where respondents did not respond using the online portal, but mentioned clearly within their response that they agreed/ disagreed with a point, these have been account for within the ‘Main Findings’ graphs.

The Scottish Government has considered all additional comments made by respondents to each question, and this document has attempted to identify and highlight any similarities or differences between respondent groups to determine whether any specific area or theme was of particular interest to certain groups. However, it is important to note that there may be variations of opinion within groups and some respondents may have chosen not to comment on certain question(s).

While the consultation gave all who wished to comment an opportunity to do so, given the self-selecting nature of this type of exercise, any figures quoted here cannot be extrapolated to a wider population outwith the respondent sample.