Councils have begun a legal challenge over the costs local authorities will incur due to Ed Miliband’s decision to allow the massive Sunnica solar farm.
The Energy Minister waved through the fiercely-opposed scheme, the largest in the UK, within a week of taking up his position. The 2,700-acre farm will spread across three sites in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.
But Cambridgeshire County Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Suffolk County Council and West Suffolk Council have all agreed to send a legal letter to express their concern that Sunnica could avoid meeting the costs of the burden their plans for the UK’s largest solar farm will place on local authorities.
The councils argue the decision could cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds, of prescious funds, which, they argue, should not be their responsibility. The letter could potentially lead to a judicial review of Mr Miliband’s decision.
Chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s environment and green investment committee Cllr Lorna Dupre said: “We have already expressed our disappointment at the decision to grant permission for this large development, which will have a huge effect on residents and businesses as well as the local environment.
“The prospect of this huge development is of deep concern to those of us in East Cambridgeshire. Furthermore, an error within the planning approval has not accounted for the extensive technical and administrative input needed from the four local authorities affected by Sunnica’s proposals.
“This means that local people could not only face development all around them but could also be asked to pick up the tab for developers’ ambitions.
“These private company’s plans cannot be carried out at public cost to local taxpayers.”
Vice-chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s environment and green investment committee Cllr Nick Gay said: “Renewable energy is essential for our future. I’m pleased to see that the new Government is taking the tough choices necessary for our energy security, but we must look to see that this administrative error is corrected as soon as possible, so our officers can work effectively with Sunnica, as we pursue a cleaner, greener future for everyone.”
Cllr Mark Goldsack, local member for Soham North and Isleham on the county council, said: “We have been shocked by the Secretary of State’s decision to grant permission for Sunnica and the developer’s ambitions for an industrial scale energy farm spread across such vast swathes of our countryside.
“The council’s legal challenge to the developers is a step in the right direction to challenge this decision and recognise the economic, environmental and personal cost to local people.”
Cllr Richard Rout, deputy cabinet member for nationally significant infrastructure projects, said: “The new Secretary of State has made a terrible start to his tenure, by waving through the awful Sunnica application with reckless abandon.
“In doing so, he has shown scant regard for the communities affected, and for the local authorities who must pick up considerable amounts of additional work as a result of the project going ahead.
“He was only in post for a matter of days before approving a number of energy projects – it would have been impossible for him to fully review the Sunnica application, and to see how flawed it was.
“One of the crucial things he has ignored is the insufficient amount that Sunnica has proposed to reimburse local councils for dealing with conditions attached to the application. This is an embarrassing, clumsy and entirely avoidable error by the Secretary of State. This is why we are taking legal action.”
The plans include ground-mounted solar panels and large-scale battery storage across land near Burwell, Isleham, Chippenham, Fordham, Kennett and Snailwell in East Cambridgeshire as well as areas of West Suffolk. Sunnica has permission for a connection of up to 500MW at the Burwell National Grid Substation.
Image: NextEnergySolarFund, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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