On 24 January 2025, The Secretary of State granted development consent for the Heckington Fen Solar Park and the West Burton Solar Project. Both projects overcame significant challenges, and it is incredibly positive that both of these nationally significant solar power projects have received development consent. 

Heckington Fen Solar Park

The Heckington Fen Solar Park, promoted by Ecotricity (Heck Fen Solar) Limited, will be a 500MW solar power development in Lincolnshire. 

The Secretary of State took a significant amount of time to return a decision. Having received the examining authority’s report on 9 May 2024, the Secretary of State formally deferred the decision date first to 2 September, then 27 September, then to 24 January 2025.

One of the main causes for the delay in issuing the decision was the need for the string of post examination questions from the Secretary of State to be addressed. All in all, there were two separate requests for further information made of the Applicant, statutory undertakers and The Crown Estate.

The other factor was the delay in the Applicant obtaining Crown Land consent under s135 of the Planning Act 2008. Ecotricity (Heck Fen Solar) Limited twice requested extensions to the statutory determination deadline to allow negations with The Crown Estate to continue. On 23 January 2025, The Crown Estate confirmed that the outstanding s135 consent had been obtained, just in time for the Secretary of State to determine the application on 24 January 2025.

West Burton Solar Project 

The West Burton Solar Project, promoted by West Burton Solar Project Limited, will be located in Lincolnshire and connect into the National Grid Substation within the former EDF coal power station West Burton A. 

A key issue during the examination of the project was the potential for impacts on the significance of Stow Park, a scheduled ancient monument comprising a medieval bishop’s palace. West Burton Solar Project Limited had applied to erect solar panels within the old deer park of Stow Park, which is not part of the area listed as a scheduled ancient monument, but which does form part of the setting of that monument. 

Historic England made representations to the examination stating that the inclusion of solar panels within the deer park would cause substantial harm to the significance of Stow Park, but that its concerns would be addressed if the scheme was consented with these solar arrays removed (the “Stow Park Alternation”). 

West Burton Solar Project Limited opposed the Stow Park Alteration, arguing that the removal of the solar panels from the deer park land would equate to a loss of 104.145MW (approximately 20% of the installed capacity: the equivalent of an additional nationally significant infrastructure project or two additional 49.9MW sites under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990) and that this reduction would require this amount of generation to be consented and constructed elsewhere pre-2030 to meet current targets. 

However, the Examining Authority and the Secretary of State both concluded there would be no change to the significance of environmental effects of the project in terms of climate change as a result of the Stow Park Alteration, noting that the net carbon benefit will still be a major beneficial effect. The Secretary of State ultimately agreed that substantial harm would be caused to the significance of Stow Park if the scheme were to proceed without the Stow Park Alteration being made to the design, and that ‘wholly exceptional circumstances’ did not exist in this case which would justify consenting the project notwithstanding this level of harm. 

The Secretary of State therefore consented the West Burton Solar Project with the Stow Park Alternation made. 

The New National Policy Statements for Energy

Both the Heckington Fen Solar Park and West Burton Solar Project were determined under the 2011 suite of National Policy Statements (“NPS”) for Energy and are to be among the final solar projects to be determined (indirectly) under these policies.  The 2011 NPS did not make direct provision for solar technologies.   

Burges Salmon have acted for the promoters of the Oakland’s Farm Solar Park and the Byers Gill Solar Farms, which will be the very first solar development consent order applications to be determined under the updated NPS from 2024, as “critical national priority” infrastructure under those new NPS 

This article has been written by Alex Minhinick (partner) and Adam Reeves (solicitor). Please contact them for any queries on any aspect of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects consenting.