Burton Road - Proposed Oaklands Farm Solar Limited Development Consent Order

OAKLANDS FARM SOLAR PARK - EN010122
RULE 13(6) OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (EXAMINATION PROCEDURE) RULES 2010
NOTICE OF PRELIMINARY MEETING AND OPEN FLOOR HEARING RELATING TO THE PROPOSED OAKLANDS FARM SOLAR LIMITED DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER

Notice is hereby given that, at the date, time and location set out below, the Examining Authority will be holding a Preliminary Hearing and an Open Floor Hearing as part of the examination of an application made by Oaklands Farm Solar Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of BayWa r.e UK Limited) of 22 Chancery Lane, London, England, WC2A 1LS (“the Applicant”) for a Development Consent Order (“DCO”) under section 14, 15 and 37 of the Planning Act 2008 (“the Application”) for the development of the Oaklands Farm Solar Park (“The Proposed Development”).

The Application was made on the 8th February 2024 and was accepted by the Planning Inspectorate on the 5th March 2024 and given reference EN010122.

If you wish to attend and/or participate in the above Preliminary Meeting or Open Floor Hearing, you must register by completing the Planning Inspectorate’s event participation form on the Planning Inspectorate’s project webpage for the Scheme: (https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ projects/EN010122)

Please contact the Planning Inspectorate using the contact details at the bottom of this notice if you require any support or assistance to attend the Preliminary Meeting or Open Floor Hearing, either virtually or in person. Interested Parties and Affected Persons wishing to speak at the Preliminary Meeting or the Open Floor Hearing should notify the Planning Inspectorate by Procedural Deadline A (Tuesday 25th June 2024).

If you only intend to observe the Preliminary Meeting or Open Floor Hearing virtually then you do not need to register as you will be able to watch a livestream of the event. A link to a livestream for the Preliminary Meeting and Open Floor Hearing will be made available on the Planning Inspectorate’s project webpage for the Scheme shortly before each event is due to open. The physical venue referred to above will also be open to the public.

Virtual Registration using Microsoft Teams - All virtual participants will be required to take part in a registration process which will be held with the Planning Inspectorate before the start of the Preliminary Meeting or Open Floor Hearing. This gives time for the Planning Inspectorate to admit everyone to the Preliminary Meeting or Open Floor Hearing.

Any Hearings further to that listed will be advertised by one or more further notices. In accordance with Rule 13(3) of the Infrastructure Planning (Examination Procedure) Rules 2010, as amended, the Planning Inspectorate will also notify interested parties (and where relevant, affected persons) of the date, time and place fixed for each hearing.

The initial dates of any further hearings, where necessary, including Issue Specific Hearings, Compulsory Acquisition Hearing and any further Open Floor Hearing, have been reserved for the 22nd October to 23rd October 2024. The final details of the hearings will be publicised by similar notices at appropriate times once the hearing programme has been confirmed.

Oaklands Farm Solar Park
The Proposed Development comprises a solar farm with an associated Battery Energy Storage System.

The Proposed Development would have a generating capacity of over 50MW and would be situated on 191 hectares of land at Oaklands Farm to the south-east of Walton-on-Trent and to the west of Rosliston in south Derbyshire (the Site). The solar park itself, comprising photovoltaic panel arrays, a central electricity substation and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) together with access, landscaping and other works would be located on 135 hectares of agricultural land currently in use for arable production and grazing.

A high voltage underground electricity cable would then run through land at Fairfield Farm and Park Farm to the north to connect the solar park to the national grid via an electricity substation located at the former Drakelow Power Station which sits south of Burton-upon-Trent. As the Proposed Development would be an onshore generating station with a generating capacity of over 50MW it constitutes a Nationally Strategic Infrastructure Project (NSIP) for which an application for a DCO is being made under the Planning Act 2008 (The Act) to the Planning Inspectorate, for determination by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (SoS).

The DCO, if granted, would authorise the compulsory acquisition of land, interests in land and rights over land, and the powers to use land permanently and temporarily. The DCO would also authorise alterations to the layout of streets, the construction of accesses to the Scheme, the temporary stopping up or management of the public rights of way, street works, removal of hedgerows, and the application and disapplication of legislation.

Environmental Impact Assessment
The Proposed Development is an Environmental Impact Assessment development as defined in the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017, and therefore the application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement and Non-Technical Summary.

Viewing the Application Documents

The application form and its accompanying documents, plans and maps are available to view electronically and download, free of charge, under the “Documents” tab on the Planning Inspectorate’s project webpage for the Scheme: https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010122/documents

All further documents submitted in the course of the examination of the Application will also be published in the Examination Library which can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s project webpage for the Scheme under the “Documents” tab. The Examination Library is updated regularly throughout the examination.

The same documents, plans and maps can also be viewed electronically on the Inspectorate’s website at the following locations:

• Swadlincote Library and Information Centre, Swadlincote Library, Civic Way, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 0AD between 9.30am - 5pm Mon-Wed and Fri, 9.30am - 7pm Thurs and 9.30am - 4pm Sat. Sun - closed

• Burton Library, Riverside, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 1AH between 9am - 6pm Mon, 9am - 5pm Tue, Wed and Fri, 9am - 7pm Thurs and 8:30am - 4:30pm Sat. Sun - closed.

A complete set of the Application documents can be made available in hard copy format on request at a cost of £3,000. Copies of individual documents are also available on request and a reasonable printing charge may apply.

The Applicant will also consider any reasonable requests for bespoke or hard copy document formats (for example in large print, audio or braille formats). An electronic copy of the Application documents can be supplied free of charge on a USB memory stick. In relation to any request, please contact the Applicant using the contact details set out at the end of this notice.

Further information
Further information about the application, the hearings and how to take part in the Examination and any other matters covered in this notice may be obtained from the Planning Inspectorate or BayWa r.e UK Limited using the following contact details: