A London firm’s divisive bid to roll out a solar farm ten times bigger than a neighbouring village has taken a major step forward.
Evolution Power’s (EP) plans to build arrays spanning 250 football pitches around Aldington, near Ashford, has passed its first round of scrutiny this week.
It comes as numerous energy firms vie to strike up deals with landowners and councils for new solar farms across Kent as the UK strives to meet the target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Evolution bosses revealed on Tuesday its bid to the Planning Inspectorate (PI), the body responsible for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP), was accepted for examination.
If plans progress, its 400-acre Stonestreet Green solar farm’s photovoltaic panels will power 48,000 homes a year with 99.9 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy.
But outspoken campaigners have labelled the scheme “hideous” and believe house prices will be driven down – triggering an exodus of residents.
Last year, estate agent Matthew Ryde warned the move would make Aldington a “less attractive place to live”.
As Evolution’s project would generate more than 50 megawatts it is categorised as an NSIP, essentially a major infrastructure scheme.
It means only the government or, more specifically the Planning Inspectorate, has the power to greenlight the project following a raft of investigations and reports.
After Evolution submitted its development consent order – essentially preliminary planning papers – it sparked a strong backlash.
Reacting to the bid, Aldington and Mersham Support Group founder Derek Burles has urged residents to join forces to battle the plans.
“We need to look back to the village meeting in November 2022, when those present voted unanimously to oppose this hideous scheme on the grounds of its location, scale and cumulative effect,” he said.
“Now the planning inspector has approved the developer’s application, the community needs to act as one, led by the parish council and the Aldington and Mersham Support Group, to ensure that the shortcomings highlighted by the adequacy of consultation submission are exposed to maximum effect during the examination period.”
Evolution’s director Giles Frampton says the project will generate low-cost renewable energy.
He says it will help bolster electricity supply securityand points out that three rounds of consultations have taken place since the plans were launched three years ago.
He stresses the firm will take on board all community feedback – both positive and negative.
If successful, power would be fed into the national network via a connection at the nearby Sellindge electrical substation.
Mr Frampton told KentOnline: “Prior to submission we carried out extensive pre-application consultation on our proposals, including a five-week non-statutory consultation, two five-week statutory consultations and two four-week targeted consultations.
“We have consulted in a variety of ways to maximise consultee participation – a large number of consultees provided feedback and we have had careful regard to all of the responses received as we finalised our proposals for the project.”
Mr Frampton says a newsletter will be sent to local homes and businesses with details of how the local community can submit representations and take an active role during the next examination phase.
It comes as Ashford Borough Council (ABC) threw out French energy firm EDF Renewables’ proposals for a site spanning the size of 190 football pitches close to Sellindge and Aldington.
Dubbed the “East Stour Solar Farm”, the proposed project would have generated enough power for the equivalent of 16,900 homes.
But planning chiefs snubbed the 256-acre scheme.
Were EDF’s smaller scheme to go ahead, building the site on arable farmland between Aldington, Smeeth and Sellindge “would result in significant adverse individual and cumulative effects on landscape character”, planning bosses said.
They highlighted the negative impact the farm would have “on visual amenity that cannot be appropriately mitigated”.