Solar farm plan 'paused' for review

Plans for a solar farm have been paused so they can be reviewed and refined, developers have said.

Leoda Solar Farm would cover about 2,400 acres (9.7 sq km) of farmland between the Lincolnshire villages of Leadenham, Brant Broughton and Welbourn.

Hugh Gilmour, the project's head of development, said environmental and technical surveys would continue.

"The project team remains fully committed to Leoda Solar Farm and intends to restart the process once this work has been completed and the proposals have been further refined," he added.

Gilmour said the project had been withdrawn from the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) process "at this point".

If a solar farm is classed as "nationally significant", it means the applicant must apply for consent from the planning inspectorate, rather than a local council.

Developer Telis Energy UK said the solar farm would produce between 500MW and 600MW, with the project's website indicating it could power the equivalent of up to 143,000 homes.

The application would also include a battery system to store energy generated.

Objections to the plans, including criticism that the design was too big and too vague, were made by residents in February last year.

Among them was Tim Willbond, who lives in Leadenham. At the time he said he agreed with the need to move to sustainable energy but was concerned by the scale of the scheme.

"These plans seems completely out of proportion and would have a massive impact on the countryside. If they were scaled down, they might be acceptable," he added.

Gilmour said: "We firmly believe that developing renewable energy in the UK is essential to supporting energy security and the transition to a low‑carbon energy system as part of UK government policy."

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