Solar farm applications

We have recently received a number of planning applications for solar farms.

These are:

21/00081/FUL (Land east and west of St Cleres Hall Pitt, Main Road, Danbury)
21/00394/FUL (Land east and west of A130, north and south of Canon Barns Road, East Hanningfield)
21/00502/FUL (Land east of A130, South of Canon Barns Road, East Hanningfield)
21/00555/FUL (Land west of Hill Farm, Pan Lane, East Hanningfield)

Some of the application documents feature detailed information and are large in size. You may find it easier to download and view these documents on a desktop computer, rather than on a smartphone or tablet.

Three of these applications are all near each other, around Church Road, Canons Barn Road and Pan Lane in East Hanningfield. You can see the details on each in the tabs below.

How to make a comment

Once you have viewed the documents, you can make a comment via Public Access. After you have commented, you can click on the ‘Track’ button (at the top tight of the screen). You can then get updates about progress on the application.

If you are using a phone or tablet, you can comment using our online form.

Longfield

There is also a proposal for a solar farm called Longfield. The site is on land north east of Chelmsford, between Boreham, Hatfield Peverel, Great Leighs and Terling. The site falls across both the Chelmsford City Council and Braintree District Council administrative areas.

It is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, which means central government decide whether to approve the project, rather than us.

Central government have now decided to grant planning permission for the proposal.

Longfield Solar Energy Farm Limited is proposing a new solar farm site. The project is a joint venture between EDF Renewables (EDFR) and Padero Solar.

The Planning Inspectorate accepted an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) for examination on 28 March 2022. The Secretary of State granted development consent for the proposal on 26 June 2023.

Longfield will be sited on farmland north east of Chelmsford and north of the A12 between Boreham, Hatfield Peverel, Great Leighs and Terling. The site falls across both the Chelmsford City Council and Braintree District Council administrative areas.

The proposal for the solar farm included:

ground mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to generate electricity from the sun
battery storage to allow Longfield to import, store and export electricity to the National Grid
grid connection infrastructure, which allows export or import of up to 500MW of electricity to and from the National Grid
supporting infrastructure, such as sub-stations, inverters, transformers, switchgear and internal cabling
areas for landscaping, habitat and biodiversity improvements and mitigation
other associated infrastructure needed for the construction and operation of the site, such as construction compounds, access tracks and welfare facilities

The planning process

A solar farm of this scale is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. This means the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy needs to approve it, through a Development Consent Order (DCO).

The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) manage DCO applications on behalf of the Secretary of State, who has now approved the project.

We were a consultee on the DCO application and were not responsible for deciding on it.

You can find details of the application, including the Secretary of State's decision, statement of reasons and the Order granting development consent on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

You can find out more about the project, consultation and FAQs on the Longfield Solar Farm project website.

The site is across two parcels of land to the north of the A414 between the A12 Sandon junction and the western edge of Danbury. The land is within the rural area, beyond the Green Belt.

The applicant is Low Carbon Limited.

The site covers 37.7 ha and the proposal is for the installation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) park generating up to 25 MW of electricity.

It would comprise ground-mounted photovoltaic solar arrays and battery-based electricity storage containers.

There will also be:

a substation
inverter/transformer stations
site accesses
grid connection cables
internal access tracks
security measures
access gates
other ancillary infrastructure
landscaping
biodiversity enhancements

We have now granted planning permission.

You can view the details on Public Access via 21/00081/FUL.

The site sits across three parcels of land to the east and west of the A130 and north and south of Canons Barn Road. It is located next to Anglian Water Treatment works at Hanningfield Reservoir. The land is within the Metropolitan Green Belt.

The applicant is Low Carbon Limited.

The site covers 86.75 hectares of land and the proposal is for the installation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) park generating up to 49.9 MW of electricity.

The proposal includes a connection mast up to 35m tall, which would be sited at Church Road, Linkhouse Farm junction.

It comprises ground mounted photovoltaic solar arrays and battery-based electricity storage containers.

There will also be:

inverters/transformer stations and a Distribution Network Operator sub-station
access and cable connection to the mast to connect to 132 kV power line
customer substation/switchgear and meter kiosk
batteries
internal buried cabling and grid connection cables
internal access tracks
security fencing and gates, and CCTV cameras
other ancillary infrastructure
landscaping
biodiversity enhancements

We refused this application on 9 December 2021. The applicant appealed the decision, which then went to an Inspector from the Planning Inspectorate. The Inspector decided to allow the appeal and granted planning permission for the solar farm on 6 February 2023.

You can view details of the planning application and the appeal decision on Public Access under reference 21/00394/FUL.

The site is on a single parcel of land, to the south of Canons Barn Road to the east of Canons Barn Bridge. Canons Barn Road provides access to Anglian Water Treatment works at Hanningfield Reservoir. The land is within the Metropolitan Green Belt.

The applicant is Bluestone Energy Limited.

The application site covers 14 hectares of land and the proposal is for the installation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) park generating up to 8 MW of electricity.

It comprises ground mounted photovoltaic solar arrays.

There will also be:

a substation
internal access tracks
transformers/inverters
fencing and gates
CCTV cameras
temporary construction compound
underground cable and connection to end user
other ancillary infrastructure
landscaping
biodiversity enhancements

We have now granted planning permission.

You can view the details on Public Access via 21/00502/FUL.

The site is on a single parcel of land to the west of Hill Farm, north of Pan Lane, East Hanningfield. The land is within the rural area beyond the Green Belt.

The applicant is Cell Energy Ltd.

The application site covers 68.20 hectares of land and the proposal is for the installation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) park generating up to 41.8 MW of electricity.

It comprises ground mounted photovoltaic solar arrays and battery-based storage containers.

There will also be:

inverters/transformer stations and a Distribution Network Operator (DNO) sub-station
customer substation/switchgear and meter kiosk
internal buried cabling and grid connection cables
internal access tracks
security fencing and gates, and CCTV cameras
upgraded existing site access
other ancillary infrastructure
landscaping
biodiversity enhancements

We have now granted planning permission.

You can view details of the planning application, including the Planning Committee Report and decision notice, on Public Access under reference 21/00555/FUL.