The previously proposed 650-acre Solar Farm that was being pursued as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) meaning that the final decision on whether permission for development should be approved would have been made by the Secretary of State on behalf of the Government has been withdrawn.
Opportunities to object to NSIP’s are limited and therefore Felsted Parish Council had been representing the Parish in Community Liaison Group Meetings with TotalEnergies in order to lever any potential future gain for the community.
However, the applicant (TotalEnergies) has recently withdrawn their NSIP but has advised that the application will continue to come forward but now it will be via the Town and County Planning Act (TCPA) which means that it will be submitted as a normal Planning Application through Uttlesford District Council (UDC) and as it is no longer an NSIP, Felsted Parish Council are likely to object.
This also means that all Felsted residents will be able to comment to UDC on the application once it is formally submitted. No doubt some residents will choose to support the application, and some will object.
In advance of submitting their planning application to UDC TotalEnergies have recently circulated a brochure to Felsted households and were / are holding two “Consultation Events” (on Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd September) with residents invited to submit comments to them regarding the proposal, via either:
Freepost Hedgehog Grove Solar Farm (no postage required) Freephone 0800 0465879
Website www.solar.totalenergies.co.uk/hedgehoggrove
Email ku.oc.mrafralosevorggohegdeh@kcabdeef
Felsted residents will have their own views on Solar Farms and all residents are encouraged to submit their comments to this significant proposal, whether in support or as an objection.
Felsted Parish Council are likely to object because we have already supported TWO solar farms within Felsted Parish, one covering 38 acres which has been fully operational since 2014 and the other covering 282 acres, which received full planning approval from UDC in 2023 but is yet to be constructed. Both are located near Willows Green. (See map below)
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 650 acres which would bring the total combined area of Felsted under “Solar” to circa 970 acres (equivalent to around 600 football pitches), seriously impacting our rural environment and displacing wildlife etc. In addition, all of the effected land, according to the Natural England – Agricultural Land Classification map for the Eastern Region (ALC008) would be on land classified as “Grade2” i.e. “Very Good” BMV (Best and Most Versatile) agricultural land.
We believe that TotalEnergies claim in their distributed brochure, under their “Why Here” comments, where they say they have “carefully assessed” the land to ensure they are not proposing the use of “the highest quality farmland” is a disingenuous statement as there is no “Grade 1” (i.e. classification of “excellent”) BMV farmland anywhere in Uttlesford and very little in Essex as a whole, 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.
TotalEnergies do not anticipate submitting their formal planning application before January 2026 (this is because the Government’s intention to change the output capacity threshold for NSIP’s, which is a factor in TotalEnergies decision to withdraw their NSIP application), will not come into effect until 31st December 2025.
Felsted Parish Council will publish details of the formal planning application on the Parish Council website and on the Parish Council Facebook Page once the application has been submitted. Information will be published on:
Website https://felsted-pc.gov.uk/
Parish Council Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/felstedpc/
