The NSIP Planning Process
Page last modified 2nd December 2024
Introduction
Because the proposed Kingsway Solar Farm is such a large project it is not going to be handled by the usual planning application process, instead it is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) for which there is a GOV.UK webpage at
https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010165
To learn about the NSIP planning process you might find the videos on this page useful.
You can read more about the process for handling an NSIP below. For now though, it’s important to understand that Kingsway’s project is currently at the pre-application stage, during which the applicant must consult with people and organisations in the area. They must also create detailed documents about the impact the project could have on the environment.
It is important for parishioners of West Wratting, Balsham and Weston Colville to get involved at this stage to influence the application before it is sent to the Planning Inspectorate.
You can find out more about the pre-application stage here.
The Planning Inspectorate has published a series of advice notes that are intended to give advice about these matters.
You can also find out about:
- The process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs)
- and how to Have your say about a national infrastructure project
Give your consultation feedback to Kingsway
Kingsway Solar Ltd have started a consultation period that’s open for 6 weeks. Please send your comments to Kingsway before the end of this consultation period on 12th December.
This is our best opportunity to influence the design of the solar farm so that if it does go ahead its impact on our lives will be minimised. Although Kingsway have a form that you can fill in, either online or as a paper copy (ask me if you need a one) you can send them your comments in any format you choose. All communication will count equally. I intend to send them an email/letter because I feel the form will not allow me to describe what I want to happen in enough detail.
- Fill in the online form: kingswaysolar.participatr.io
- Get a paper form from West Wratting Parish Council and post to FREEPOST DOWNING KINGSWAY.
- Write an email to enquiries@kingswaysolar.co.uk
- Post a letter to FREEPOST DOWNING KINGSWAY.
Do start by telling Kingsway your overall feelings about the solar farm, but I recommend keeping your objections brief. Kingsway Solar Ltd will not really be listening to straightforward objections, so your time spent on that will really be wasted. For this consultation it is best to focus on giving constructive suggestions that could influence the design for the better. It will be most effective if you say “it should be like this because …” rather than “if it’s like that it’ll be terrible”. If describing a particular location, e.g., “the view from my house”, a particular field, or a particular footpath, give enough detail so that it can be identified. Include as much detail as possible and cover anything that may affect your day-to-day life.
The best time to protest about the solar farm is after the 12th December consultation deadline, when you, the parish councils and Kingsway Solar Community Action can collaborate to do that most effectively.
What happens after the consultation period?
According to what we’ve been told, the engineers at Kingsway will incorporate our suggestions and recommendations into the design of the site so that it if it does go ahead it will not end up as terrible as if they did not have our feedback.
When a detailed plan has been created it is submitted as part of a Development Consent Order (DCO). The DCO is a detailed document that if approved will allow the applicant to build their proposed project, with legally binding restrictions and conditions. The applicant submits their application to the Planning Inspectorate. A panel of independent inspectors called the Examining Authority is then appointed by the government to review all the evidence from both the developer and all interested parties, including the public, and they advise the secretary of state on whether or not to give the project consent to go ahead.
Any attempt to stop or moderate an NSIP project must first and foremost present evidence to the examining authority that leads them to conclude that the application should not be given consent.
The DCO application for Kingsway Solar Farm is expected to be submitted in November 2025. People who oppose the development have until then to prepare a case against the development that can be presented as evidence to the examining authority.
For the Sunnica solar farm near Newmarket the public, protest groups, and an alliance of parish councils were successful in submitting evidence that lead the examining authority to advise that the project should not go ahead. Despite this recommendation the new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero – Ed Milliband – chose to ignore the examining authority and give his consent anyway. Here was the examining authority’s conclusion:
- The Proposed Development is in conflict with the joint [Local Impact Report] submitted by the four host local authorities, with particular reference to employment (including the horse racing industry), landscape, nature conservation and heritage;
- The Proposed Development would have significant adverse effects that would outweigh its benefits;
(paragraph 9.1.14 in the Sunnica Energy Farm Examining Authority’s Report of Findings and Conclusions and Recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In order to persuade the Secretary of State to listen to examining authority’s conclusions, people who are opposed to industrial-scale solar farms in rural areas will need to have influenced politicians and the media through lobbying and campaigning that it would not be in their or the country’s interests to give consent to a development that the expert examining authority recommend should not be built.
S Chandler, West Wratting Parish Council
Return to the Solar Farm webpage
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