WELCOME TO FELSTED

Uttlesford District Council is launching exciting district-wide community events that highlight local sustainable projects benefiting both people and the planet. This inspiring week from 6 to 14 June 2026 will celebrate community climate action across Uttlesford.

Find out more here: https://www.uttlesford.gov.uk/article/9990/The-Uttlesford-Big-Green-Festival 

One of the events is a family nature day on Sunday 14th June 10am – 2pm at West Wood, Little Sampford. There are more details here: https://www.uttlesford.gov.uk/article/9990/The-Uttlesford-Big-Green-Festival#calendar-f05e3e45-63e7-4764-a74f-7935ac3d8013-event-ef9a96a9-657d-4795-b966-6edf576348b3

A Planning Application has recently been submitted for the “Hedgehog Grove Solar Farm” that had originally been pursued as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), meaning that the final decision on whether permission for development would have been approved would have been made the Secretary of State on behalf of the Government, but was subsequently withdrawn.

However, following changes made by the Government in December 2025 under the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, there is now no specific “maximum” power output that a solar farm is legally prohibited from exceeding; rather, the Act redefines the regulatory pathways for projects of varying scales. The most significant change introduced by the Act and its associated secondary legislation is that the act raises the capacity limit for solar farms that can be decided by local planning authorities under conventional Planning Applications from 50 MW to 150 MW. This means that solar farms can now produce up to 150 MW of power while remaining under the local planning regime, in our case, that is via Uttlesford District Council (UDC).

Felsted residents are able to comment to UDC on the application now it is formally submitted. No doubt some residents will choose to support the application, and some will object.

Details of the application (and the opportunity for those residents who wish to comment) can be found at: https://publicaccess.uttlesford.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=simple&searchType=Application
By entering the application reference number UTT/26/0445/FUL

Felsted Parish Council are likely to object because we have already supported TWO solar farms within Felsted Parish, one covering 38 acres (shown in red on the map below) which has been fully operational since 2014 and the other covering 282 acres (shown in blue on the map below), which received full planning approval from UDC in 2023 but is yet to be constructed. Both are located near Willows Green.

Clearly, having previously supported two solar farms, in total covering around 320 acres, Felsted Parish’s likely future objection cannot in any way be claimed to be a “NIMBY” (i.e. “Not In My Back Yard”) response. Our concern is the scale of the proposal and the cumulative impact of the existing approved 320 acres plus the proposed additional 675 acres (shown in yellow on the map below) which would bring the total combined area of Felsted under “Solar” to circa 1,000 acres or 405 hectares (equivalent to around 560 football pitches), seriously impacting our rural environment and displacing wildlife etc. In addition, the majority of the impacted land, according to the Natural England – Agricultural Land Classification map for the Eastern Region (ALC008) would be on land classified as “Grade 2” i.e. “Very Good” BMV (Best and Most Versatile) agricultural land.

Therefore, the use of almost 1,000 acres of what is classified as BMV Grade 2 “i.e. Very Good” land is considered unacceptable and unsustainable.

Felsted Parish Council are publishing these details in order to keep the community informed of this very significant Planning Application.

The government has announced £53m of support for vulnerable households who rely on heating oil.

The support will be targeted to help low-income households in rural communities affected by the recent surge in costs.

The additional funding will be distributed by local authorities via the Crisis and Resilience Fund, which comes into effect on 1 April and replaces the temporary Household Support Fund.

Locally, the fund will be administered by Essex County Council.

If help is needed before the Crisis and Resilience Fund starts in April, residents can apply to

Essex County Council’s Household Support Fund for help.