Romney Marsh Community Hub, Sunflower House, Rolfe Lane & Rye Library, 30A High Street, Rye Public Inspection

Sections 47 and 48 Planning Act 2008
Regulation 4 Infrastructure Planning (Applications: Prescribed Forms and Procedure) Regulations 2009
Regulation 13 Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017
Notice publicising a Statement of Community Consultation
Notice publicising a proposed application for a Development Consent Order for South Brooks Solar Farm

Notice is hereby given that Blue Planet Solar Limited (company number: 12326987) of Alexander House 1 Mandarin Road, Rainton Bridge Business Park, Houghton Le Spring, Sunderland, England, DH4 5RA (the “Applicant”) proposes to make an application (“the
Application”) to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero under section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 (the “Act”) for a Development Consent Order (“DCO”).

The Application

The Application is for the construction and operation (including maintenance and decommissioning) of South Brooks Solar Farm (“the Proposed Development”) on the Dungeness Peninsula, nearest to the settlements of Lydd, Camber, New Romney, Old Romney and Greatstone (“the Site”) and located within the administrative boundaries of Folkestone and Hythe District Council, Rother District Council, Kent County Council and East Sussex County Council. The Proposed Development would cover an area of approximately 1208 hectares.

The proposed DCO would authorise:

construction, operation (including maintenance) and decommissioning of ground mounted solar PV arrays, Balance of Solar System, Collector Compounds and Battery Energy Storage System, along with distribution cables.
other associated and ancillary works including up to two project substations, which would be connected to the PV arrays and battery storage via distribution cables. Underground cabling would connect to the Project substation(s) to the point of connection into the National Electricity Transmission System via a 400kV grid connection cable route.
other infrastructure works including on-site cabling, ancillary buildings such as offices and welfare areas, access tracks, and any other works identified as necessary to enable the Proposed Development. There would also be parts of the Site used for landscaping which would include features such as biodiversity mitigation and enhancement measures, amenity improvements and fencing.
The permanent compulsory acquisition of land and/or rights and the taking of temporary possession of land.
Offsite highway works (if required).
The overriding of easements and other rights over or affecting land.
The application and/or disapplication of legislation relating to the Proposed Development.
Such ancillary, incidental and consequential provisions, licences, property rights, permits and consents as are necessary and/or convenient for the purposes of the Proposed Development.

The Proposed Development is an Environmental Impact Assessment (‘EIA’) development for the purposes of the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 and accordingly Preliminary Environmental Information (‘PEI’) about the likely significant environmental effects of the Proposed Development has been produced and is included as part of the consultation materials. The Applicant is carrying out an EIA and will submit an Environmental Statement as part of the Application.

The Applicant will carry out pre-Application consultation on the Proposed Development from 28 May to 9 July 2026. The purpose of this consultation is to obtain views on the Proposed Development ahead of submission of the Application.

Statement of Community Consultation

Under section 47 of the Planning Act 2008, the Applicant has produced a SoCC which explains how the Applicant will undertake the consultation with the local community and stakeholders about the Proposed Development, where the consultation documents can be viewed, where public events will be held and explains how people can comment on the proposals and provide responses to the consultation. This notice provides formal notification of the publication of the SoCC including where and when it can be inspected in accordance with section 47(6)(a) of the Act.

Pre-application statutory consultation

Additionally, the Applicant has a duty to publicise the Application under section 48 of the Act in line with regulation 4 of the 2009 Regulations. In accordance with those provisions, this notice also summarises the main proposals and explains where the consultation documents can be viewed.

As part of the consultation, the Applicant will publish consultation materials including documents (such as a consultation booklet), plans and maps showing the nature and location of the Proposed Development, a consultation questionnaire to gather feedback on the Proposed Development, the PEI and the SoCC. The consultation materials will be available in several formats from 28 May 2026.

All consultation materials, including the SoCC, will be available to download online free of charge at

https://southbrookssolarfarm.co.uk/document-library/

being a website maintained by or on behalf of the Applicant. Copies of the consultation materials will be available for inspection free of charge at locations listed below (Table 1), as well as on a USB on request using the details in this notice. Printed copies of the consultation booklet, SoCC and questionnaire are available free of charge upon request using the details in this notice. Requests for printed copies of the PEI will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and a fee to cover printing costs (up to a maximum of £500 for one full set of consultation documents) may be charged to the recipient.

Table 1: Consultation materials (including SoCC) deposit points

Location
Opening hours
Romney Marsh Community Hub,
Sunflower House, Rolfe Lane, New Romney, Kent TN28 8JR
Monday to Friday - 8:30am to 4:00pm
Rye Library, 30A High Street, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7JG
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday - 10am to 5pm,
Wednesday - 10am to 1pm, Saturday - 10am to 4pm, Sunday - Closed
*Please check opening times before travelling

In addition, the Applicant is hosting public events at the following times, dates and locations to enable individuals to learn more about the Proposed Development and share their feedback:

Thursday 11 June (1pm - 5pm) - Lydd Community Hall, Manor Road, Lydd, TN29 9HU
Friday 12 June (4:30pm - 8:30pm) - St Peter’s Church, Baldwin Rd, Greatstone, TN28 8RG
Saturday 13 June (11am - 3pm) - Maude Community Centre, Station Rd, New Romney, TN28 8LQ
Friday 3 July (4pm - 7pm) - Camber Memorial Hall, Lydd Road, Camber, TN31 7RJ
Saturday 4 July (11am - 3pm) - Lydd Community Hall, Manor Road, Lydd, TN29 9HU

For key topics of interest, the Applicant is also holding online webinars via Zoom to discuss the topic in more detail and answer questions. To view the dates and times of the webinars and register to attend, please visit the project website (

www.southbrookssolarfarm.co.uk

).

How to respond to the consultation

Any person may comment on the proposals or otherwise respond to this publicity. Responses must be received between 28 May and 11:59pm on 9 July 2026 through any of the following ways:
Completing the consultation questionnaire online at

www.southbrookssolarfarm.co.uk

Completing a paper questionnaire and returning it at one of our events or to the Freepost address: South Brooks Solar Farm Freepost SEC NEWGATE UK LOCAL (no stamp is required)
Returning a questionnaire or submitting your comments by email:

info@southbrookssolarfarm.co.uk

When providing your response, please include your name and address or, if you would prefer your comments to be anonymous, your postcode only. Please also confirm the nature of your interest in the Proposed Development. Personal information that is supplied to the Applicant in response to this consultation will be held securely and only used for purposes in connection with the statutory consultation, the DCO process and further development of the Proposed Development. Outside of these purposes, the Applicant may be required to provide personal details if under a legal obligation to do so, such as if the Planning Inspectorate requests original responses. For further details please see our privacy policy at:

https://southbrookssolarfarm.co.uk/privacy-policy/

and the Planning Inspectorate’s Privacy Notice at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/planning

inspectorate-privacy-notices

Responses must be received no later than 11:59pm on Thursday 9 July 2026.

The Applicant will consider and have regard to all responses received by the above deadline when developing the Application for a DCO once consultation has closed. Responses will form the basis of a Consultation Report that will be one of the factors taken into
consideration by the Secretary of State when deciding whether the Application can be accepted for Examination. Therefore, in providing any comment, it should be borne in mind that the substance of it may be communicated to others as part of the Consultation Report.

If you would like further information about this notice, the consultation or the Proposed Development, please contact the project team by using one of the contact methods provided below:

By Freephone: 0800 038 3486
By email:

info@southbrookssolarfarm.co.uk

By Freepost: South Brooks Solar Farm, FREEPOST SEC Newgate UK LOCAL