Inspectorate opens examination into Green Hill Solar across Northamptonshire
The government's planning inspectorate has started its examination period into the massive Green Hill Solar Farm project
The government’s planning inspectorate has officially entered the examination stage of plans for a major solar farm in the Northamptonshire countryside, which would be the largest in the UK if approved.
The proposed Green Hill Solar Farm would cover around 1,200 hectares of land between Wellingborough and Northampton. Multiple solar sites have been proposed in and around the villages of Old, Walgrave, Mears Ashby, Earls Barton, Bozeat, Grendon and Lavendon.
Due to the size of the development, it has been classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), and will bypass the ability of local councils to rule on the plans, going straight to the planning inspectorate. If approved, the project could generate approximately 500MW, with a lifespan of 60 years.
A three-person panel will oversee the examination period, which is expected to last up to six months. They will then write a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, who will make the final decision.
A preliminary meeting on the project was held at the Mercure Hotel, Northampton, on Tuesday morning, October 21.
Involved in the proceedings was the applicant Green Hill Solar Farm Limited, representatives of West Northamptonshire, North Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes councils, as well as the campaign group Stop Green Hill Solar, and several parish councils.
More than 1,200 people and businesses sent comments to the NSIP application, as well as comments from three local authorities and 14 parish councils.
The inspecorate panel is made up of lead member Mark Harrison and inspectors Catherine Beeby and Rebecca Norman. They will assess design, ecology and environment matters, flooding and drainage, glint and glare, heritage and historical assets, the visual impact, socio-economic factors and land use, and the traffic and transport impacts of the massive solar farm project.
A programme of issue-specific hearings and representation deadlines has been outlined to address these matters. According to a draft timetable shared by the examining authority, the examination stage is expected to finish on March 20, 2026.
Juliet Jarvis, a member of Stop Green Hill Solar, said:
"I can't stress enough how people are going to be affected by two years of construction. Underground cabling. It's not just the solar fields themselves. This is a vast, vast, nationally significant infrastructure project. It goes through the same permissions that projects like HS2 or an airport runway go through.
"This is an extraordinarily large impact for Northamptonshire's countryside and its villages and even its towns.
"It feels very permanent. I mean, none of us will be alive to see the apparent decommissioning of this, of this solar farm."
She added that they were able to stand up for local voices thanks to crowdfunding, which they have put towards legal and specialist support, but that they still need to raise more.
"We are David fighting against Goliath and if the government decides to pass a development consent order for Greenhill Solar it's going to happen and then the best thing that we can do is try and shape it as best possible to minimise the construction disruption and the spoiling of our Northamptonshire countryside."
Lesley Giles, project development manager for Green Hill Solar Farm, said: “Green Hill would generate around 500MW of clean, British energy which feeds the national grid in the East Midlands.
“That’s alongside battery energy storage capacity so the project’s benefits will extend beyond dusk and before dawn. This would reduce dependence on fossil fuels and help control the potential for global price strikes to affect British electricity bills.
“We’re grateful to everybody who has responded to the application so far and during the pre-application phase and we’ve used that feedback to make the project better.
“We look forward to setting out our case for Green Hill during the examination and the benefits it can deliver.”
The next issue-specific hearing on environmental matters is due to take place on Wednesday, October 22, starting at 9.30am at the Mercure Hotel.
According to Green Hill Solar, if the project is approved, construction would begin in 2027 with the aim of providing electricity to homes by 2029.