What is going on?

UPDATE 26/07/2023: The Planing Inspector has now published their report on the Scoping Opinion which you can view here: – PINs Scoping Opinon Report 
You can still view a copy of our response to the Scoping Opinion Consultant here: – Bladon’s Scoping Opinion Response

The November 2022 distribution of leaflets and information sent out to councils, such as ourselves, marked the beginning of a lengthy and complex consultation process regarding the proposal for the Botley West Solar Farm in Oxfordshire.

Due to the scale of the proposition, it is considered a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), so it will not go through the usual planning process. Instead, a six-stage process, as defined in the Planning Act 2008 (PA2008), must be followed. More information on this six-stage process can be found in various places, including this government website  and as part of the literature from The Developer.

Responsibility for decisions on NSIPs rests with the relevant Secretary of State at the Department for Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. In practice, the planning inspectors (known as the “examining authority” in the legislation) from National Infrastructure Planning at the Planning Inspectorate will make recommendations to help inform the Secretary of State’s decision.

The Parish Council website will provide links to information sources, and our own briefing notes, and will be regularly updated.

Literature from The Developer (full details can be found here) states that they will “carry out at least two rounds of consultation with local communities and stakeholders”.

The period from 3 Nov to 15 December 2022 was a FIRST phase of consultation (non-statutory, optional consultation). The Developers have provided initial proposals, and as we have all seen, these are very schematic and don’t include much detail, which is indicative of the very early stage. This first phase of consultation includes the opportunity to provide feedback on the initial proposals. The deadline for comments at this First Phase of Consultation was 15 December 2022.

The Developer will then refine their proposal and we will enter the SECOND phase of consultation (Statutory Consultation). This is a mandatory consultation, which means that more rigorous requirements are defined and The Developer will have to provide more detailed information about the proposal, including accurate maps and specified boundaries.

According to the currently available literature, the Developer will provide “more detailed designs” and “the findings of our Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR), which will set out any identified potential environmental effects, and the mitigation measures that we will introduce to manage these”. They will also publish a Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), describing “how we are engaging throughout the project, and how we will seek and collect your feedback to shape our proposals”.

During this second stage, Phase Two Consultation, we will again have an opportunity to comment on the proposal. This is the stage when we can comment on the Developer-defined specifics of this proposal and will have much more information to work with.

There is so much information to take in about this process. So, we will continue to focus on each stage as we learn more. We are still in the very early stages of the process, but you can find out what Bladon Parish Council are doing about this consultation here.