SUNNICA ENERGY FARM – STATUTORY CONSULTATION

INTRODUCTION

Sunnica Energy Farm plan to create the UK’s largest solar farm in and around our local villages including Chippenham, Freckenham, Worlington, Snailwell and Isleham.  This scheme will be vast in size and will cover 2,792 acres, the equivalent of 2710 football pitches.   

The next stage of the process is the statutory consultation.  This is where the public and other consultees such as parish and district councils review the scheme in detail and submit their views for the consultation.  These views are vitally important as they will help to influence the outcome of this application.  Every single submission counts, so please do take the time to consider this proposal, speak to Sunnica directly if you have any specific questions that are not clear from the literature or contact the parish council and we will help you.  If we can not answer your question we will direct you to somebody who can.

Please do reply to Sunnica’s questionnaire and also write to our district councillors and our MP Lucy Frazer, all the relevant addresses are set out below. 

Below you will find information that will help you to learn more about the proposal and also what the parish council have done and are doing to represent the village.  We have also included a summary of the results of the Sunnica Village Survey that we conducted in 2019, which showed that 92% of people who responded to the survey felt the scheme is too large.

Remember your opinions will be taken into account and they do matter because we live in the area that will be affected by the scheme.

 

THE CONSULTATION

The Sunnica Energy Farm planning application is now moving into its next phase which is the Statutory Consultation.

The process for obtaining planning permission is not via the usual local authority route. Due to the scheme’s size it is considered to be a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and therefore goes through the National Infrastructure Planning process and is ultimately decided by the relevant Secretary of State.

Sunnica has provided detailed plans and began the Statutory Consultations on 22nd September 2020 which will run through to 2nd December 2020.  Due to COVID restrictions the consultation will be in the format of online documentation/presentations and a series of webinars on specific aspects of the scheme.  All residents should have received by post the Sunnica Consultation Booklet and questionnaire form.  If you have not received a copy please contact Sunnica directly (details below) who will send out a copy to you.

TIMELINE

  • 21st September – two parish councillors from each affected council were invited to attend a Zoom call with Sunnica to preview the statutory consultation information – see notes attached
  • 22nd September – start of the statutory consultation period
  • Lucy Frazer’s Open Forum virtual meeting – 5th October 7-8pm
  • 9th November – Parish Council response to the statutory consultation
  • 2nd December – end of the statutory consultation period

 

WHAT THE PARISH COUNCIL ARE DOING

The parish council has provided feedback on the non-statutory consultation.  Details of which can be found here 

The parish council carried out a survey in the village earlier in the year.  Sunnica Statement – questionnaire results Jan 20

Two councillors have been attending videoconference meetings with Sunnica.  Notes from the meetings can be found here.

The parish council will discuss the statutory consultation at both the October and November parish council meetings and their response as a consultee will be finalised at the November meeting.

The parish council are speaking to Sunnica about how to ensure all villagers, especially those without access to the internet, can engage with the consultation process to make sure their voices are heard.

LUCY FRAZER

Chippenham virtual open meeting with Lucy Frazer MP

Lucy Frazer, MP for South East Cambridgeshire will be holding a virtual open meeting with Chippenham residents and businesses to discuss the proposed Sunnica Energy Farm and she is keen to hear your views. 

The meeting will take place on Monday 5th October, 7pm – 8pm, and will be held via Zoom. The relevant details for the call are;

Lucy is keen to represent constituents’ views about the project as part of that process. This meeting will be an opportunity for Chippenham residents and businesses to raise these points with Lucy.

 

RESOURCES

Sunnica

Sunnica website – https://sunnica.co.uk/

Consultation documentation – can be found on https://sunnica.co.uk/downloads/

Map of the proposed scheme https://sunnica.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/200909_SunnicaEnergyFarm_Comms_RLB.pdf

East Cambs District Council

East Cambs District Council is the principal planning authority for this application.  They will oversee the consultation process but are not a decision maker for this application.  They will however formulate and submit a response on behalf of East Cambs as a consultee.

Youtube – planning meeting 2/9/20 – Sunnica item starts at 2hrs 3mins  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6WZVHVLfrk

East Cambs District Council https://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/meetings/planning-committee-02092020 documentation – relevant documents from item 7 onwards

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO – HOW TO RESPOND

Familiarise yourself with the scheme as it is presented now.  It has changed somewhat from the original non-statutory consultation.  Sign up for the webinars or watch back later to find out more in depth information on aspects of the scheme.

The statutory consultation will be carried out via the Sunnica website www.sunnica.co.uk.  All information regarding the scheme will be available online (and also in paper format for those residents without internet access).  Your comments can be submitted online, by email or by post.

If you have specific questions or would like more detail on any aspect of the scheme you can contact Sunnica by email or telephone on or 0808 168 7925

Please encourage your friends and neighbours to respond as the more voices that are heard the more influence it will have.

The parish council is also happy to receive your comments and this will help us to formulate the parish council’s response.  Please email or for those without internet access you can write to the clerk at 44b High St, CB7 5PR