Have your say on 2500-acre solar farm across Northamptonshire villages as dates announced for statutory consultation
A statutory consultation will begin on November 7 to allow local people to have their say on the controversial development that would see 2,507 acres of Northamptonshire green spaces turned into a solar farm.
After meeting with local residents earlier in the year, representatives at Island Green Power, the company behind Green Hill Solar Farm, will hold a consultation period, beginning this week.
It is proposed that eight sites across Northamptonshire, in and around the villages of Easton Maudit, Walgrave, Mears Ashby, Earls Barton, and Bozeat will be used to house solar energy infrastructure including panels, conversion units, inverters, and substations.
A planning document states: “The applicant will host consultation events to provide opportunities to view the relevant consultation documentation and speak with members of the project team.
“These consultation events offer an opportunity to find out more about the Green Hill Solar Farm.”
The consultation period runs for six weeks from November 7 until December 19, and feedback can be provided through a form which can be found on the Green Hill Solar website. Forms will also be available in person at the consultation events, including:
- Grendon Village Hall – Monday, November 18 from 2pm until 7pm
- Lavendon Village Hall – Saturday, November 23 from midday until 5pm
- Swanspool Pavilion, Wellingborough – November 27 from 2pm to 7pm
- Walgrave Village Hall – December 7 from midday until 5pm.
Three online webinars will also take place on November 20 from 6pm until 7pm, November 26 from 6pm until 7pm, and December 4 from 12.30pm until 1.30pm. There is no need to register to attend the in-person consultations, however the webinars will require registering in advance on the project’s website.
The feedback from those who engage with the consultation period will be used to shape the Development Consent Order (DCO), which will be accompanied by an environmental statement in the new year.
Former leader of The Borough Council of Wellingborough, Councillor Martin Griffiths, has long opposed the “unprecedented” scale development, having launched a petition in March to reduce its overall size.
When the petition reached 1,000 signatures in the weeks after its launch, he said: “I, and I am sure the vast majority of the 1,000 plus signatories, am not opposed to solar and the need for renewable energy creation.
"It is the sheer scale of the initial plans and the effect on our wonderful rural communities in particular Bozeat, Easton Maudit, Grendon and Mears Ashby.“
Local people who attended the non-statutory consultations in spring said the development would have a “significant impact” on the local scenery, as well as the potential decrease in local house prices, and the issues relating to local archeology.