The county council’s policy position is that solar farms should not remove Suffolk’s best quality farmland from food production, therefore the county council will be objecting to the scheme if this type of land is affected by the White Elm plans.
The council also remains firm on its preference for rooftop-before-rural solar development and expects that solar developers should rule out any links to forced labour in their supply chains.
Councillor Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for Devolution, Local Government Reform and NSIPs, said:
“I’m sure that the reaction of many Suffolk residents, will be ‘here we go again’. I have complete sympathy with them, especially as this is another application which is going to move very quickly.
“My message to local communities is to get fully involved with the detail of this non-statutory consultation. Do object and give clear reasons why, but also make constructive suggestions to amend and improve the plans in case it goes ahead, despite opposition from local people and councils. You can do both without compromising your objection.
“Sadly, the current standard practice for project promoters, such as Elmya Energy and EcoPower, is to carry out just two consultations. This means they travel through the planning process at the fastest possible speed, and it is local communities and residents who suffer.”
Also, of significant concern to local communities with the White Elm project, is that a new National Grid (NGET) substation will need to be built. National Grid has not provided any details or indication of where this will be located.
However, Elmya Energy has stated that the connection to the Grid will be on the existing Norwich to Bramford pylons, not National Grid’s proposed Norwich to Tilbury project.
Councillor Rout continues:
“I’m extremely disappointed that National Grid has not been able to provide an indication of where the substation will be sited.
“It is a significant piece of infrastructure which could have sizable cable corridor runs, impacting even more people – how can local communities be in a position to respond when they don’t know where it might be?
“But I shouldn’t be surprised at this lack of information from National Grid, when we’ve already experienced their lack of coordination between their own projects like Sea Link and LionLink.”
The White Elm solar farm project, like the EcoPower proposal, is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). This means that the county council, like the district and parish councils, will only be a consultee.
Final planning decisions for NSIPs are made by the Secretary of State at the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, the Rt Hon Ed Miliband.
Elmya Energy’s non-statutory consultation for the White Elm solar farm project, runs from 19 May to 30 June 2025. A final, statutory consultation is expected to take place in Winter 2025. Details can be found at www.whiteelmsolarfarm.com
