Land West of Fosse Way - Solar Farm Planning Notice

Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Section 78 Planning Appeal on behalf of Staffordshire Solar 1 Ltd.
Land West of Fosse Way (B4455) and South-East of Radford Semele, Leamington Spa, CV31 1XJ

Consultation on Amendments to the Proposed Development:
Staffordshire Solar 1 Ltd (the Appellant) has lodged an appeal in respect of a proposed solar farm on
Land West of Fosse Way (B4455) and South-East of Radford Semele. The appeal was lodged with the
Planning Inspectorate on 3 October 2025. This follows the refusal of planning permission by Warwick
District Council on the 22 May 2025 for:
“Construction of a Solar Farm and Battery Storage together with all associated
works, landscaping, equipment and necessary infrastructure.”

Further details about the planning application and the appeal are available on the Planning pages of the
Council’s website using the reference W/24/1404.
This notice is to inform you that that we are inviting the Inspector to determine the appeal on the basis of
an Amended Scheme Landscape Mitigation Plan (reference P21-0150_EN_10H) which includes a
number of amendments to the Appeal Scheme that was refused permission by the Council in May 2025.
Please note that this Plan represents both the ‘Site Layout’ and the ‘Landscape Mitigation Plan’
combined for the Amended Scheme. A Comparison Plan (reference P21-0150_EN_29) has also been
prepared to further explain the changes proposed and the Detailed Hard and Soft Landscape Plan
(reference P21-0150_EN_26D) has been updated to reflect these changes also.
The proposed amendments are as follows:
1. The introduction of additional noise mitigation at specific locations (acoustic containment to the BESS
compound in fields 3 and 4 and acoustic fence to the western elevation of the substation area);
2. Relocation of some BESS compounds to be better positioned / aligned in the context of the existing
tracks;
3. Extending existing track from field 9 to field 8 to allow access for maintenance;
4. Further clarity is provided on substation area with both substation and BESS compounds identified;
5. Minor repositioning of solar panels immediately south of the substation compound;
6. Repositioning of swales at substation area to south of substation and east of field 1;
7. Clarification of PROW network on the site; and
8. Access gate detail has been added to all field parcels (with and without solar PV array) to allow for
maintenance; and
9. Positioning of two storage containers adjacent to the access track crossing field 7.
It is important to note that whilst minor amends have been made to the original refused application
scheme, there are no amendments to the proposed solar panel array and that the output of up to
49.99MW (AC) can still be achieved by the development proposal.
Further details of the substation compound have been included as part of the Amended Scheme to
demonstrate that all necessary infrastructure can be suitably accommodated within the wider Appeal
Site.
In terms of the implications arising from the Amended Scheme, with regard to environmental impacts, it
is considered that none of these proposed design amends within the Amended Scheme lead to an
alteration in any of the conclusions reached within the technical and environmental reports submitted
with the planning application.
For robustness, however, the Landscape Management Plan (September 2025), Noise Impact
Assessment (September 2025) and the Outline Battery Safety Management Plan (September 2025)
have been updated to take into account the changes to mitigation and impacts from this. In addition, a
Surface Water Drainage Strategy Update (September 2025), complete with Preliminary Drainage
Strategy N150-07F, has also been prepared to support the Amended Scheme.
It is also relevant to note that having reconsidered the existing biodiversity condition of the Appeal Site, it
has been determined that a higher quality of condition is achievable through the Amended Scheme.
Accordingly, this will result in an on-site biodiversity net gain of 66.63% for habitats, 66.72% for
hedgerow, and 22.04% for watercourses; this is an increase from 54.89%, 61.06%, and 20.20%,
respectively. To support this, an Ecological Statement (October 2025) and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
Metric (September 2025) have been submitted with this Appeal and provide a proportionate update to
the Appeal Scheme’s Ecological Assessment Report, Biodiversity Management Plan, and BNG Metric.
Finally, an additional plan, entitled ‘Typical Water Tank Elevation’ Drawing Reference WATERTANK-01 is
proposed to be included to demonstrate further details of this feature.
We are now conducting a period of consultation to allow interested parties the opportunity to
make comments on these amendments in respect of the appeal scheme.
The amended version of the Amended Scheme Landscape Mitigation Plan (P21-0150_EN_10H), and a
Comparison Plan (P21-0150_EN_29) will be able to be viewed on the Warwick District Council website
using the reference W/24/1404. The above plans, as well as the additional information referred to above,
can also be viewed and downloaded at:

https://www.fossewaysolarfarm.co.uk/

How to Respond:
If you wish to make any comments, please ensure that they are submitted before 21 November 2025.
Responses by email should be sent as follows:
To:

fossewaysolarfarm@pegasusgroup.co.uk

Subject: W/24/1404 Fosse Way Solar Farm Appeal Consultation
If you prefer to respond by post, please address your correspondence to:
Fosse Way Solar Farm, Pegasus Planning Group Ltd, First Floor, Gainsborough House, 34-40 Grey
Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 6AE
Please ensure that your letter contains the reference:
P21-0150 Fosse Way Solar Farm Appeal Consultation Response.
Please note that this is not a consultation on behalf of Warwick District Council. All comments received
will be forwarded on to the Planning Inspectorate and the Council prior to the opening of the Appeal
Inquiry. They will then be considered by the appointed Inspector alongside all other consultation
responses submitted in response to this appeal. All comments submitted will be in the public domain and
may be referred to during the consideration of the appeal.