Oaklands Farm Solar Limited is in the early development stages of a large-scale solar plus energy storage project in South Derbyshire, on land west of the village of Rosliston, and east of Walton-on-Trent. Oaklands Farm Solar Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of BayWa r.e. UK Ltd.
This website provides information about the development and contact information should you have any queries. The project is in the initial development stage and as further information becomes available we will provide further updates.
Latest news
Following submission at the beginning of February 2024, the Planning Inspectorate has now formally accepted BayWa r.e. UK Ltd.’s development consent application for a solar park and battery energy storage system in South Derbyshire. The Oaklands project will therefore now enter the Pre-examination and Examination phases.
Due to the nature of the project, the application is being considered under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime.
The Planning Inspectorate will now examine the plans, and following a public examination process, including dedicated hearings, will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to either approve or refuse the application. Following this process, the Secretary of State will make and issue the final decision.
Now that the application has been accepted, all the application documents are publicly available on the Planning Inspectorate’s website. Members of the public wishing to take part in the Examination process can now register their interest through the Planning Inspectorate’s website below:
https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010122
In the meantime, you can contact the project team via the project contact details on the right-hand side of this website.
All current and historic consultation documents and information published to date can be found in the ‘Project Documents’ section of this website.
The 2022 virtual exhibition will also remain available to access from this website for your information.
You can download the latest newsletters via the download section below.
Application for an electricity generation licence has been confirmed by ofgem to be duly made, notice of application is linked here.
We will keep this website updated with information on next steps prior to submitting our application later this year. Please get in touch if you have any queries about the proposals, or would like to share your feedback.
Community benefit
We’re grateful for the feedback and suggestions received in relation to community benefit. We’ve been working on this, and we’re pleased to be able to confirm an annual community benefit of £55,000 per year for the 40 year life of the project.
Whilst we are yet to confirm the details, the intention is for this money to be distributed to local causes via a local community fund.
In addition to the financial contribution to the local area, a number of other aspects of the scheme will benefit the local community including:
- Production of clean renewable electricity which would make a significant contribution to local and national Climate Emergency goals
- Opportunities for Direct Ecological Benefits and Biodiversity Net Gain through:
- 125% biodiversity improvement in habitat units across the site
- Hedgerow planting & improved management
- Improving grasslands and wildflowers
- Decreased use of fertiliser and herbicide
- Socio-economics
- Improving links between existing paths and right of ways
- Construction jobs - approximately 150 jobs created during the construction phase
- Local contracting opportunities - fencing, civil works, testing & commissioning
- Knock on effects for local businesses & payment of business rates
- Continued agricultural use of site through grazing of sheep between the rows of solar panels
Whilst community benefit is not a planning consideration, as a company BayWa r.e. is keen to begin exploring the best ways of providing improvements through financial contributions and scheme design adaptations from the earliest opportunity.
We would therefore be pleased to hear from interested parties and the local community regarding the benefits that the project could bring to the local area. We’d be particularly interested to understand any local causes that might benefit, or to understand your thoughts on how to distribute and manage the community benefit fund.
Project description
The revised proposals comprise a solar farm plus energy storage facility covering approximately 400 acres at Oaklands Farm. The expected generating capacity of the project at this stage is 138 MW of solar power, and up to 37.5 MW of energy storage capacity.
The revised indicative site is shown on the plan below. The project will connect to the national grid via an underground cable to Drakelow Substation located to the north of the site.
Project location map
Please consider that this is a draft layout plan only.
Additional draft plans and layout diagrams showing the latest proposals are available to view on the Project Documents section of this website.
The site lies on open, agricultural land interspersed and surrounded by a network of hedgerows.
The solar farm would comprise of rows of solar panels mounted on metal frames (tables) secured into the ground via simple piled metal stanchions approximately 2.7 m high. Energy storage would comprise batteries and electrical components housed in up to 91 steel shipping containers approximately 3 metres high, covering about 2 acres of the site. The layout will be designed to protect public footpaths and landscaping measures will include enhancing and improving the network of hedgerows around and within the site.
- The planning process
Due to the nature of the proposed Project, an application to the Planning Inspectorate was submitted under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime (Planning Act 2008) in early 2024.
NSIPs are major infrastructure projects such as new harbours, roads, power generating stations (such as larger scale solar farms) and electricity transmission lines, which require a type of consent known as ‘development consent’ under procedures governed by the Planning Act 2008. Development consent, where granted, is made in the form of a Development Consent Order (DCO).
Anybody wishing to construct an NSIP must first apply for consent to do so. For such a project, the Planning Inspectorate examines the application and will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, who will make the decision on whether to grant or to refuse development consent.
Further information about the process can be found here.
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Scoping
A Scoping Request was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in 2021. The Scoping Report set out our proposals and the proposed environmental assessment methodologies.
The Scoping document is available to view on the Planning Inspectorate website, along with all the relevant detailed appendices here.
Informed by the Scoping responses, studies and assessments were undertaken as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. The EIA is an on-going iterative process and the assessment findings identified ways to reduce, avoid and mitigate identified environmental effects. The findings of the EIA are presented within an Environmental Statement (ES) which is one of the core application documents submitted as part of the application.
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The consultation process
BayWa r.e. are committed to effective public engagement and have been taking a pro-active role in undertaking pre-application consultation on the proposed project.
We have been undertaking informal consultation with local stakeholders and the community on the proposals since autumn 2021. Meetings with local representatives have been undertaken alongside distribution of information leaflets. All informal consultation materials are available to view on this website.
As with all DCO applications, there is a statutory consultation process that must be undertaken, alongside informal consultation through the pre-application process. We are required to take account of all feedback received and submit a report to the Planning Inspectorate that demonstrates how this has been achieved.
The statutory (formal) consultation process commenced in April 2022 and ran to the start of June 2022. Full details of this consultation were made available on the published Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), and community leaflet, which can be found in the ‘Download’ area of this website.
An additional targeted consultation was launched in March 2023 to seek feedback on certain changes to the proposals which took place following the earlier statutory consultation in 2022. Details of this additional consultation can be found in the ‘Latest News; section of this web page, and in the ‘Document Downloads’ section, below.
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Consultation feedback and project refinements
Over the course of the pre-application process, we have undertaken consultation with local stakeholders and received feedback from technical consultees. This has resulted in several refinements to the proposals through the process:
- A reduction in the scale of the solar panel coverage;
- New construction track across private land to avoid HGVs going through villages of Rosliston and Walton-on-Trent; drivers warned to avoid Bailey Bridge;
- Adjustments to the location of site infrastructure, including the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), to minimise impacts to sensitive receptors (such as houses) in the surrounding area;
- Increased planting of trees and hedgerows to provide additional screening and biodiversity benefits;
- Refinement of construction traffic routes to minimise the impact on the local road network;
- Inclusion of a new permissive path to improve connectivity through the site for pedestrians between Rosliston and Walton on Trent.
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Acceptance
We submitted our application to the Planning Inspectorate in February 2024 and it was accepted in March 2024. This means that the Inspector has agreed that the application includes all the necessary documents and that these are of a satisfactory standard to examine the application.
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Pre-examination and Examination
The application is now in the “Pre-examination” period and all the application documents are available on the Planning Inspectorate’s website. Members of the public wishing to take part in the Examination process will shortly be able to register their interest through the Planning Inspectorate’s website.
Following Pre-examination, the project will enter the Examination stage, where the Planning Inspectorate will set public hearings to review the proposals and the comments received. Based on the discussion in the hearings, the Planning Inspectorate will issue formal written questions to the project team which must be addressed in writing within defined timeframes.
Project timeline
Completed
Completed
Now
Summer 2024
Late 2024
Early 2025
Download
- Newsletters
- Additional Consultation Documents (March/April 2023)
- Statutory Consultation Documents (April/May/June 2022)
- Generation Licence Notice of Duly Made
- Consultation Exhibition Boards
- Consultation Feedback Form
- Consultation Summary Document
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Non-Technical Summary
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 1
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 2 - Figures
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 2 - Figures 1.1-3.2
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 2 - Figures 4.1-4.20
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 2 - Figures 5.1-5.4
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 2 - Figures 5.5-5.6
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 2 - Figures 5.7-5.9
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 2 - Figures 5.10-5.14
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 2 - Figures 5.15-5.25
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 2 - Figures 8-12
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 3 - Appendices
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 3 - Appendices 1-5
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 3 - Appendix 6.1-6.10
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 3 - Appendix 6.12
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 3 - Appendices 7-8
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 3 - Appendix 9.1
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 3 - Appendix 9.2
- Preliminary Environmental Information Report: Volume 3 - Appendices 10-15
- Statement of Community Consultation
- Section 47 Planning Act 2008
- Spring 2022 Newsletter
- FAQ Document
- Location Plan
- Layout Plan (1)
- Layout Plan (2)
- Project Presentation
- Scoping Report
- Autumn/Winter 2021 Newsletter
- Section 48 Notice
- Layout and Access Point Plans (October 2023)
About solar energy
This scheme represents an important contribution to meeting the UK's legally binding target under the Climate Change Act 2008 to achieve a 'net zero' carbon account by 2050.
Like other renewable energies, solar power represents a ‘clean’ source of renewable energy as it doesn’t release any harmful emissions or pollutants. More information about solar technology can be found here.
Solar energy is also one of the cheapest forms of new renewable power generation in the UK, and consequently can contribute to controlling consumer’s energy bills into the future.
In addition, there a number of potential additional, more local benefits, including:
- Local jobs and investment - we are committed to using local labour wherever we can throughout the construction and ongoing operational life of the project.
- Biodiversity enhancements including reinforcement of existing hedgerows and the planting of new hedgerows, planting of native grasses and species within the solar farm itself, and wildflower meadows will be planted throughout the solar farm where appropriate.
- Continued agricultural use within the site through grazing of sheep between the rows of solar panels, thereby using the land for both energy generation and agriculture during the operational phase of the solar farm. The land will be returned to its previous use after the life of the project, and often soils benefit from a sustained period without intensive agricultural use.
Through the consultation process, we are also keen to hear about any other potential local benefits that we could facilitate or deliver directly. We look forward to sharing more information about this soon and receiving your suggestions.
