Projects

Tuckey Solar Farm

We provided Planning and Environmental Consultancy services to Elgin Energy for their planning application for the installation of a ground mounted photovoltaic solar energy generation system (solar farm) with associated equipment and infrastructure.

Key details

Project name

Tuckey Solar Farm

Client

Elgin Energy

Location

Winslow, Buckinghamshire

Services provided:

- Planning consultancy

- Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment

- Heritage consultancy

- Flood Risk Assessment

- Arboricultural Impact Assessment

- Ecology surveys

- Transport Assessment

- Agricultural Land Classification Assessment

- Public Consultation and Community Liaison

Challenge

The UK is transitioning to more renewable and low-carbon sources of energy. For this application, we had to demonstrate compliance with local and national planning policy and prove the principle of the development was acceptable at Tuckey Farm. Our team assisted Elgin Energy with their public engagement strategy, provided planning consultancy and robust environmental assessment.

The main issues for the proposed development included the development’s visual impact on Public Rights of Way, the management of surface water drainage and the development of a greenfield site for a temporary period of 30 years.

Solution

We were engaged by Elgin Energy to prepare a planning application and Environmental Impact Assessment Screening report for the proposed development, including specialist assessments. After undertaking a topographic survey, our team provided the planning statement and environmental assessments necessary to support an application for this large-scale development.

Thanks to our robust assessments and appraisals, our team were able to prove that the benefits of the solar farm were significant enough to outweigh the localised and temporary harms. The Council recognised that the solar farm will provide a long-term, de-centralised form of energy that will improve the sustainability and security of UK based electricity supplies. The Council confirmed that the adverse impacts did not significantly or demonstrably outweigh the benefits of the proposal.