STONESTREET GREEN SOLAR NOTICE OF HEARINGS APPLICATION REFERENCE: EN010135

STONESTREET GREEN SOLAR NOTICE OF HEARINGS APPLICATION REFERENCE: EN010135

Notice under Sections 91, 92 and 93 of the Planning Act 2008 and Rule 13(6)of the Infrastructure Planning(Examination Procedure) Rules 2010

1.Notice is hereby given that at the dates, times and locations set out below the following hearings will be held by the Examining Authority (on behalf of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (the “Secretary of State”)) for the examination of the application made by EPL001 Limited (Company No. 12444050) of 2nd Floor, Regis House, 45 King William Street, London, United Kingdom,EC4R 9AN (the “Applicant”) for a Development Consent Order (“DCO”) under Sections 14, 15 and 37 of the Planning Act 2008 (the “Application”). The Application is for the proposed Stonestreet Green Solar project (the“Project”).

2. The Application was submitted to the Secretary of Statevia the Planning Inspectorate on 11 June 2024, and accepted for examination on 9 July 2024. The reference number applied to the Application by the Planning Inspectorate is EN010135. An Examining Authority was appointed by the Planning Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State, on 10 July 2024 to examine the Application.

Summary of the Project

3. The Project Site is located approximately 6.5km to the south east of Ashford Town Centre and approximately 13.7km to the west of Folkestone Town Centre, in the county of Kent. The Site is situated on land located to the north and west of the village of Aldington. A map showing the location of the Project can be viewed online on the Stonestreet Green Solar page of the Planning Inspectorate’s website at: https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010135 

4. The Project comprises the construction, operation and maintenance and decommissioning of solar photovoltaicarrays and energy storage, together with associated infrastructure and an underground cable connection to the existing National Grid Sellindge Substation. The Project will include a generating station (incorporating solar arrays)with a total capacity exceeding 50 megawatts (“MW”). The agreed grid connection for the Project will allow the export and import of up to 99.9 MW of electricity to the grid. The Project will connect to the existing National Grid Sellindge Substation via a new 132 kilovolt substation constructed as part of the Project and cable connection under the Network Rail and High Speed 1 railway.

5. The Application is required because the Project is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project pursuant to subsections 14(1)(a) and 15(1) and (2) of the Planning Act 2008, as an onshore generating station in England with a capacity exceeding 50 MW. As such, the decision whether to grant development consent will be made by the Secretary of State.

6. 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 Project, the permanent and temporary stopping up of the public rights of way, street works, removal of hedgerows, and the application, disapplication and modification of legislation.

Environmental Impact Assessment

7. The Project is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)development, as defined by the Infrastructure Planning(Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 and,accordingly, an Environmental Statement accompanies the Application.

Upcoming Hearings

8. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN in accordance with Sections 91, 92 and 93 of the Planning Act 2008 and Rule 13(6) of the Infrastructure Planning (Examination Procedure) Rules 2010 (the “Rules”) that hearings are due to be held by the Examining Authority for the examination of the Application at the dates, times and locations set out in the table below. The table also provides the date, time and location for the Preliminary Meeting on the Application for information purposes.

9. The Preliminary Meeting and hearings will be held as blended events, meaning that people can attend by virtual means using Microsoft Teams or in person at the Ashford International Hotel, Simone Weil Avenue, Ashford, Kent,TN24 8UX.

10. The hearings will also be live streamed and recorded. A link to the live stream for each hearing will be made available on the Project page of the Planning Inspectorate’s website (link below) shortly before the hearing is due to open. As soon as practicable after each hearing closes, the recordings will be published on the Planning Inspectorate’s Project page at: https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010135

11. Interested parties and affected persons wishing to speak at, or attend in person, the Preliminary Meeting or any of the hearings listed above should notify the Planning Inspectorate by Tuesday 5 November 2024 by completing the Event Participation Form at: https://forms.office.com/e/y97eVZysTD

12. If you require assistance to register your attendance,please contact the Planning Inspectorate by calling 0303444 5000 or emailingstonestreetgreensolar@planninginspectorate.gov.uk and quoting the Application’s reference number: EN010135.

13. Any hearings further to those listed above will be publicised as required by the Planning Inspectorate and by the Rules. In accordance with Rule 13(3) of the Rules, the Planning Inspectorate will also notify interested parties(and where relevant affected persons) of the date, time and location for each hearing.

14. For more information on the hearings, the examination of the Application and full timetable, including details of how and when to register to speak at the hearings and how and when to make written submissions, please contact the Planning Inspectorate using the details provided above.

Copies of the Application Documents

15. The application form and its accompanying documents (including drawings, plans and maps, Environmental Statement, Non-Technical Summary and draft Development Consent Order) (the “Application Documents”) are available to view electronically and download, free of charge, under the “Documents” tab on the Stonestreet Green Solar page of the Planning Inspectorate’s website, being a website maintained by or on behalf of the Secretary of State: https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010135/documents

16. The Application Documents will be available to view on the website for at least the duration of the examination of the Application, which is due to be completed by no later than Monday 19 May 2025.

17. The Application Documents can also be viewed electronically, free of charge, at the electronic deposit locations listed in Annex H of the Rule 6 Letter on the Project page of the Planning Inspectorate’s website (link above).

18. On request, an electronic copy of the Application Documents can be supplied free of charge on a USB memory stick which will be limited to one USB per household or business. The Applicant's contact details to request the USB memory stick can be found at the end of this notice. You can also contact the Applicant using these contact details if you have any enquiries in relation to the Application Documents.

19. The complete set of Application Documents can be made available in hard copy format on request at a cost of £1,800 per copy. Copies of individual documents are also available on request and a reasonable printing charge may apply.

20. The Applicant will also consider any reasonable requests for bespoke, alternative or hard copy document formats and will accommodate such requests where it is feasible to do so and for which a reasonable charge may apply. In relation to any request, please contact the Applicant using the contact details set out at the end of this notice.

Applicant’s contact details

21. For further information about the Application, or to request copies of documents, the Applicant can be contacted by using the following details:

Telephone: 08081 698335 (free of charge)

Email: info@stonestreetgreensolar.co.uk

Post: FREEPOST Stonestreet Green Solar (free of charge; no stamp required)

22. Any details you provide to the Applicant via the above contact details will be subject to its privacy policy linked here: https://stonestreetgreensolar.co.uk/privacy+policy and will be treated confidentially and processed and handled in accordance with the relevant data protection legislation.

EPL 001