East Anglia Farm Cluster Meetings: What We Learned from Landowners on the Ground
Three conversations across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk confirmed what we sensed at LAMMA - and provided additional colour.
When we attended LAMMA in January, we left Birmingham with a clear sense of what matters most to landowners considering onshore wind: transparency, realism, and a process they can trust. Our East Anglia farm cluster meetings in late March gave us the chance to take those themes further - in smaller groups, closer to the land, and in personal conversations.
Over two days, we hosted workshops in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, joined by an independent tax advisor from Birketts. The format was deliberately simple: a short presentation, open discussion, honest questions. Here's what stood out.
1) Many landowners in East Anglia have already been approached - and the process takes time
One of the clearest signals from the sessions was this: a significant number of attendees had already been in contact with wind developers about their land. Some had already engaged and developed their own plans.
What we heard again and again was that navigating the process independently is a challenging undertaking. Comparing offers from different developers takes time, terms vary widely, and without a clear benchmark it can be difficult to assess whether what's on the table is competitive.
This is exactly where Caeli steps in. The Caeli marketplace creates a structured, competitive process where multiple screened developers can assess and bid for a site - condensing what would otherwise be months of manual outreach and comparison into a streamlined, transparent procedure. Landowners don't have to manage that process themselves, and they can have confidence that they end up seeing the full picture.
2) "We want to know the developer can actually deliver"
One word came up more than any other across all three events, it was trust.
Not trust in wind energy as a concept – most people in the room had already formed a view on that. The trust question was more specific: can this developer actually deliver? Can they navigate planning, manage construction, and operate a project reliably for the twenty or thirty years that follow?
Caeli addresses this directly. Every developer on the Caeli platform is screened before they gain access. Caeli assess capability, experience and financial standing - so that when a landowner enters into a conversation, they're starting from a position of confidence, not uncertainty.
3) "Could my land even work for wind?" – the question that brought people through the door
For a meaningful number of attendees, the commercial questions came second. The first question was simpler: is my land actually suitable?
That question was one of the main reasons people came to the events. And it's a question Caeli can answer in seconds. The Caeli site check tool provides an independent initial assessment almost instantly, drawing on wind data, planning constraints, grid proximity and environmental factors.
Sometimes the answer is yes, and it opens a real opportunity. Sometimes it's no - and that's equally valuable. Either way, landowners leave with something more useful than a feeling: they leave with a picture of what's actually possible.
4) These decisions are deeply personal
What struck us most across all three sessions was how personal these conversations are. This isn't abstract investment planning. It's about land that families have farmed for generations, about what the next chapter looks like, and about making decisions that will shape the business for decades to come.
That's why the environment at these workshops matters. Smaller groups, local venues, independent advisors alongside us - it creates the space for honest, unhurried conversation. And that's exactly the kind of relationship we want to build.
Ready to explore what's possible for your land?
We're grateful to everyone who joined us in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The quality of the conversations confirmed that East Anglia is not just a region with strong wind potential - it's a region where landowners are thinking carefully, asking the right questions, and ready to explore what's possible.
If you attended one of the sessions and want to continue the conversation, or if you missed out and would like to learn more, we'd love to hear from you. And if you missed out – or are exploring onshore wind for your land for the first time – our site check tool is a good place to start.
