Objections raised to Sunnica’s plans for enormous 2,792-acre solar farm by Cambridgeshire County Council

Concerns over Sunnica’s plans for an enormous solar farm the size of more than 2,000 football pitches have been voiced by Cambridgeshire county councillors.

One of the biggest projects of its kind in the UK, the 1,130-hectare (2,792-acre) energy farm would straddle the border between East Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.

It would stretch across four sites, north of Newmarket, near Isleham, Freckenham, Worlington, Chippenham, Kennett and Snailwell, and connect to the national electricity grid at the Burwell National Grid substation.

The plans are due to be examined by the Planning Inspectorate from this spring in a process expected to last six months, which will end in a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, who will make a final decision in spring 2023.

Classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project because it would generate more than 50MW, Sunnica Energy Farm would feature solar panels and battery energy storage across the sites, which will be connected via an underground cable.

Sunnica Ltd, which has submitted a Development Consent Order, is a joint venture between solar developers Tribus Energy and PS Renewables, and says the scheme is an “important opportunity to meet the urgent national need for new, renewable, means of energy generation”.

But county councillors on the environment and green investment committee today (March 3) called for more evidence on the value of the land and its agricultural yield and agreed to submit their concerns - including issues around transport, flood risk, conservation and archaeology - to the Planning Inspectorate as part of the consultation.

Afterwards, committee chair Cllr Lorna Dupré (Lib Dem, Sutton) said: “We are fully committed to renewable energy and this plays a key role in our climate change and environment strategy. However, this commitment cannot come at any cost and we will always examine the detail of all projects and the impact they may have on residents.

“At present, we cannot support the proposals for this project as they stand. As a statutory consultee in these plans, we have a duty to raise any concerns and we will continue to monitor the application process closely.”

Among the key concerns raised are:

• Transport and access: The council says there is a lack of evidence supporting assumptions made and conclusions to assessments provided and believes that several impacts are not sufficiently assessed.
• Cultural heritage archaeology: The project’s archaeological mitigation strategy is currently vague and requires development, the council argues
• Ecology and nature conservation: Councillors believe the environment statement provides inadequate detail in its assessments and more supporting information and clarification is required.
• Flood risk, drainage and water resources: The committee said there is a lack of data to evidence the feasibility of measures proposed, and more detail of the sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) features is required.

Cambridgeshire County Council, Suffolk County Council, West Suffolk Council and East Cambridgeshire District Council are statutory consultees on the project and working in partnership on their responses, with each addressing areas in which they have access specialist knowledge

Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service is examining the potential for fire risk from the proposed battery storage elements of the plan, while East Cambridgeshire District Council is considering the impact on the area’s landscape.

The report to today’s committee meeting suggested that the potential crop yield from the existing farmland “seems to be understated” in the submitted plans.

Cllr Anna Bradnam (Lib Dem, Waterbeach) called for more information on the productivity of the land, not just the soil assessment. She said that each year the highest yields recorded in England and Wales come from the general area of Suffolk where the solar farm is proposed.

Cllr Mark Goldsack (Con, Soham North and Isleham) told the meeting an independent assessment of the land should be undertaken.

“We must not undersell the size of this, you really, really must not,” he said.

“Take a Sunday afternoon drive out and tick off these villages as you drive through them and I tell you what, you will have to refuel on the way round - it is that far, it is that big, it is that vast. Let’s not lose sight of that.

“We must make sure that the local members and the local residents here are captured and put into this paper.

“I just stress to the point that the size and reality of this really does matter.

“Saying this is a large development does not do it justice, it is the largest in the UK. It is proposed to be the largest in the UK and largest battery storage in the UK, and that needs to be noted and we need to reflect that in our report.”

Council officers said they would need to check before confirming that it was the largest in the UK.

Councillors also asked for the number of parishes covered by the proposals to be listed in the council’s response to the Planning Inspectorate, in order to emphasise its size.

The council’s response will be welcomed by campaigners on the Say No To Sunnica Community Action Group, who are urging people to register their concerns and interest with the Planning Inspectorate by the March 17 deadline.

The group says it believes the scheme would be “the UK’s largest industrial solar park with potentially the world’s biggest battery system”, covering the size of 2,227 football pitches and including 77 acres (70 football pitches) of battery energy storage systems.

The campaigners said: “Having canvassed opinion from both sides of the debate amongst the local and wider public, there is support for solar energy but very little support for Sunnica. “2,450 acres of fertile, vegetable growing, irrigated arable land will be taken out of production in a country that is only 64 per cent self-sufficient in food.

“The UK has over 600,000 acres of south-facing industrial roof space. Technological advances have been made resulting in lighter, thinner solar panels. Solar can therefore sit on roofs and not on high quality arable land.

“Suffolk and Cambridgeshire experience an average of 1,495 hours a year of sunlight which makes a large land based solar scheme such as Sunnica questionable.

“There are also major concerns over the size and safety of the battery energy storage systems which have been known to catch fire and emit potentially lethal toxic fumes which can be carried for miles by winds.”

The group is also alarmed that, if approved, construction would take two years.

“Sunnica states that there will be in excess of 200 HGV movements a day and 966 staff commuting to the scheme daily, six days a week working from 7am to 7pm.

“The proposed scheme is scheduled to run for 40 years, at the end it will be a huge brownfield site ready for alternative development. Sunnica will change the landscape forever,” said the group.

Sunnica says it has responded to concerns voiced following earlier consultation.

“Around 26 per cent of the land within the scheme boundary is no longer proposed for energy production or battery storage. It will instead be used for landscaping, ecological or archaeological mitigation purposes. The areas proposed for development are now set further back from nearby villages,” it notes in its consultation document.

Conservative MPs Matt Hancock and Lucy Frazer have previously voiced their concerns over the scheme.

Sunnica has been contacted for comment on the council’s concerns.

A public meeting is due to be held on Wednesday March 9 from 7pm at Red Lodge Sports Pavilion. Details are available by calling 01638 551604 or 01638 551257.

The campaigners’ website can be found at saynotosunnica.com.

Sunnica’s site can be found at https://sunnica.co.uk/.

• Additional reporting: Hannah Brown, Local Democracy Reporter

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