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A massive industrial solar utility is proposed, spread over rural Northamptonshire. Announced in spring 2024, the Green Hill Solar farm’s 2,965-acre multi-site locations will cover farmland and greenfield spaces, bordering or significantly affecting the villages of Grendon, Easton Maudit, Bozeat, Mears Ashby, Earls Barton, Holcot, Old, Walgrave, Lavendon and beyond. 20 km of underground cabling linking sites back to Grendon substation and other substations, will affect many more people.
JOIN US ON 8 JUNE FOR A WALK IN EASTON MAUDIT. MORE THAN 25 WALKS AROUND THE UK WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE SAME TIME IN PROTEST AGAINST SIMILAR, MASSIVE SOLAR FARMS, WITH MEDIA COVERAGE EXPECTED. DETAILS TO FOLLOW SHORTLY.
The developer of Green Hill Solar, Island Green Power Ltd, held public consultations that closed in December 2024. The Development Consent Order (DCO) application to the Planning Inspectorate is expected to be made in May 2025, at which point the Planning Inspectorate has 28 days to decide whether to accept the application for examination. Assuming it’s ‘yes’, the Pre-Examination period starts, and all documents will be available on the NSIP website and Green Hill Solar’s own. If you, your community, or a like-minded group of people wishes to ‘have a say’ during the subsequent Examination period, you will need to register during a minimum 28-day window that will be advertised by the developer, and Stop Green Hill Solar.
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We want renewable energies, but in the right locations.
Green Hill Solar will be one of the largest solar utilities in the UK, outputting up to 500 MW of power with a total area nearly as big as Heathrow airport. The Mears Ashby site alone covers around 1,000 acres, and the Grendon and Easton Maudit installation spreads across more than 770 acres.
The 60-year, ‘temporary’ solar panel fields will connect into the National Grid substation in Grendon with smaller substations built within the scheme. A massive 500 MW battery storage development (BESS) is planned in Grendon, with a smaller site near Sywell.
The fields of rotating and/or fixed solar photovoltaic arrays up to 4.5m high will connect to the substation via underground cabling, passing through open land, roads and waterways. Households along possible cabling routes may have already received letters. The developers confirm there could be compulsory purchase of land to accommodate cable ducts: cable route search areas are bordered in orange on maps.
Such is the industrial size of the proposed solar farm it is considered an NSIP: a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, as was HS2. The planning application will be approved or rejected by the Secretary of State, not local councils.
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-greenhill/