Hackmead
Solar Farm

As with all solar farm projects, the Hackmead Solar farm project has undergone a rigorous and iterative site selection process to identify suitable locations which are acceptable both in terms of planning considerations and energy generation. This required consideration of alternative sites, planning policy and integration with the Grid Network, including an agreement with the relevant Distribution Network Operator (DNO). In this instance, the Ash Solar Farm and Hackmead Solar Farm projects were to be submitted as one project. However, as the land for Hackmead Solar Farm was not available for development at the time, only the Ash Solar Farm was previously submitted as a planning application.

The following summary provides an overview of the method we utilised to find suitable land within the area:

1. At the outset we looked at regional factors such as good levels of irradiation, large areas of open flat land. Alongside this, we considered key high level planning and environmental constraints such as internationally designated sites, sites of landscape importance etc.
2. Concurrently we looked at grid capacity, it is important to bear in mind that not all parts of the electricity network in England are suitable for new connections which limits the areas to which a suitable connection can be made. Once capacity had been identified on the 33 kilovolt (kV) circuit, a Point of Connection (POC) was established at a location along this circuit, between Radstock Bult Supply Point and Foxhills Primary Substation, agreed with the DNO.
3. We then began a more detailed site selection by establishing a study area within a radius of 3km from the POC based on the viability and other considerations of the project. The study area has to be within a feasible distance to the POC.
4. Within this radius/study area, we began to look at environmental, planning and other constraints in more detail, while also looking at Brownfield land, smaller sites, feasible rooftop search etc. A number of constraints were identified which further narrowed down available sites, including the avoidance of residential areas in this area and utilising roads that can accept construction traffic in a rural location such as this.
5. Landowners were also approached at this point and not all suitable land identified had willing land owners which limited land availability for development, equally not all land identified was considered developable due to constraints that we would not be able to mitigate.
6. The site taken forward for development at Hackmead Farm is of a suitable size to accommodate a viable project, it avoids key environmentally designated areas and is considered to be able to overcome and mitigate any likely impacts generated by the project. Crucially the site also has willing landowners and is available for development now which is why the site was taken forward for development.

The selected site is suitable in scale, avoids key constraints, has willing landowners, and is deliverable.

We understand your concerns around this but do not consider that the development will impact on agricultural land. Solar does not take agricultural land, rather it borrows it, and in the case of Hackmead Solar Farm, it will temporarily occupy a small area of land which will be returned and reinstated to farming land after the project has been decommissioned.

Following a rigorous and iterative site selection process, the development site was carefully selected to ensure it considered a range of national and local matters including, net zero targets, projects benefits and accordance with planning and environmental considerations and energy generation.

Though the development site is located on a limited area of the Best and Most Versatile (BMV) Agricultural Land with 19% of the land classified as Grade 2 and the remaining 81% of the land classified as non- BMV, split into Grade 3b (55.70%) and Grade 4 (23.5%), it considered that the benefits of the project outweigh any temporary impacts and several studies have been submitted with the planning application to demonstrate the need for the location of development on higher grade soil.

Further, Defra’s DEFRA Strategy paper (2026) projects that by 2030 solar and wind will remain a very small proportion of land use even though the government is targeting an energy system to be powered largely by renewables (95%).

The current statistics help to put this into perspective:

• 69% of UK land area is farmland.
• 2% of total UK land area (270,000 hectares) is given over to golf courses.
• In contrast, only 0.1% is currently occupied by solar farms, which is only 1/20th of the area for golf courses.
• This 0.1% of land provides 20GW of the UK’s power supply (around 30% of the country’s total power needs on cool sunny spring days).
• If the UK is to achieve its 2050 Net Zero targets, we will need to increase solar to 80GW.
• The land area to accommodate 80 GW will also increase to 0.5% of all UK land. This will still be only be ¼ of that given over to golf courses. We of course as a society do need to prioritise recreational activities in the countryside - we are not averse to a healthy and enjoyable round of golf but this paints a picture of how land is currently used in the UK!

With the recent war in the Middle East, it highlights how very important it is for the UK to move away from gas and oil and toward renewable generation. This will help to mitigate future price shocks and Hackmead Solar Farm will help the UK to achieve this strategic goal.

From our site selection process we have found that there were no alternative sites that were suitable within the search radius at the time of review, and also consider the benefits of the development:

• Is temporary and completely reversible at the end of its life resulting in no loss of agricultural land in line with the provisions of the NPPF and the National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure (EN-3).
• Will support farm diversification to help ensure the continued viability of the farm holding.
• Will be multifunctional. The land can simultaneously be used for sheep grazing, therefore the agricultural use can be partially retained.
• Will secure and generate affordable renewable energy to power the equivelent of 3,707 homes, thereby supporting the transition to a zero-carbon energy system.
• Will improve biodiversity through the planting of new trees, hedges, and buffers around the solar farm to deliver a significant increase in overall habitat compared to the existing site.

Accordingly, the benefits and lack of alternative sites demonstrates a strong and compelling planning case for temporarily using agricultural land. Finally, it is important to note that solar development does not destroy farm land. It rests the soil and takes it out of intensive agricultural production. At the end of the solar farm’s life the land could be re-purposed once again primarily for farming.

We understand your concerns around this but do not consider that the development will impact on food security. Solar Energy UK (2022) reports that claims that solar farms jeopardise the UK’s food security are false, on the contrary, the opposite is true. Further, there is no concern from Government about food security. There is enough land for renewables, housebuilding and food production to coexist in the UK, they “are not competing demands” (DEFRA Strategy paper) .

Defra’s report projects that by 2030, although the government is targeting an energy system to be powered largely by renewables (95%), solar and wind will remain a very small proportion of land use.

The current statistics help to put this into perspective:

• 69% of UK land area is farmland.
• 2% of total UK land area (270,000 hectares) is given over to golf courses.
• In contrast, only 0.1% is currently occupied by solar farms, which is only 1/20th of the area for golf courses.
• This 0.1% of land provides 20GW of the UK’s power supply (around 30% of the country’s total power needs on cool sunny spring days).
• If the UK is to achieve its 2050 Net Zero targets, we will need to increase solar to 80GW.
• The land area to accommodate 80 GW will also increase to 0.5% of all UK land. This will still be only be ¼ of that given over to golf courses. We of course as a society do need to prioritise recreational activities in the countryside - we are not averse to a healthy and enjoyable round of golf but this paints a picture of how land is currently used in the UK!

With the recent war in the Middle East, it highlights how very important it is for the UK to move away from gas and oil and toward renewable generation. This will help to mitigate future price shocks and Hackmead Solar Farm will help the UK to achieve this strategic goal.

It is important to note that Climate Change is the single biggest threat to the UK’s food security and solar can help to address this. According to DEFRA, climate change could reduce the UK’s stock of high-grade agricultural land by nearly three-quarters by 2050 but because solar farms generate near zero carbon electricity, they will help to tackle climate change thus improving the UK’s food security.

Further, solar energy helps to keep costs low, which helps UK farmers to stay in business for longer. Solar energy provides some of the cheapest electricity without which energy prices would be even higher. With the cost of living rising, agricultural businesses are increasingly facing financial difficulties but solar projects provide farmers with a direct and long-term revenue stream where they chose to host a project on their land. By helping to keep UK farming profitable, solar is also helping to secure the UK’s domestic food supply.

The applicant is also currently in discussions with the landowner, in relation to ensuring food production via the grazing of sheep.

Planning permission for a solar farm is time limited, and installations are completely dismantled at the end of their operation. Solar does not take agricultural land, rather it borrows it, and because agricultural land under a solar farm is in effect left fallow, soil health can recover and the land can go back to farming.

Yes. The proposal seeks to combine renewable energy generation with sustainable land use practices by incorporating sheep grazing. The applicant is currently in discussions with the landowner to graze sheep on Hackmead Solar Farm.

The final details inlcuding consideration of breed type to ensure suitability to soil conditions, rotational grazing system and the management mechanism for grazing is anticpited to be secured through planning conditions in a Grazing Management Plan (GMP).

There are various examples of sheep grazing on solar farms within the UK, including The Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park, which is set to the largest UK solar farm to embrace grazing. When the development comes into operation in 2027, a flock of almost 4,000 sheep will graze the solar park’s fields, which could increase up to 9,000 once lambing begins.

Stanborough Solar farm recieved planning permission in 2024 from by Welwyn Hatfield Borough council to graze sheep with a GMP secured through planning conditions prior to construction.

The development does not include a Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) which is generally associated with a greater fire safety risk.

The risk of solar panel systems catching fire is extremely low, however, there are certain measures we will undertake to mitigate and manage this risk:

• We will ensure that we source high quality components and panels as we are aware that the data shows that product defects make up a significant portion of solar-related fires, where poor quality or incompatible components add to the risk of fire.
• Inverters and other electrical equipment will incorporate built-in safety features such as overcurrent protection, fault detection, isolation mechanisms, and automatic shutdown in the event of abnormal operating conditions, thereby minimising fire risk.
• The site will be continuously monitored through a remote (virtual) monitoring system, enabling real-time fault detection and alerts. In the event of any abnormal conditions or fire-related incidents, alerts will be immediately raised, allowing for rapid response and coordination with emergency services.
• We are also proposing ground mounted solar and not roof mounted solar which has a high risk of catching fire due to often being incompatible with the roof itself.

Full details of how fire safety risk will be managed will be set out in a fire risk management plan to be secured through planning conditions and prior to construction. This will be consulted on with the local emergency services and will include details on:

• Photovoltaic system risk control measures ,
• A suitable fire risk assessment;
• Details of installation of PV with a certified and competent professional.
• Design and install PV systems in accordance with the relevant Code of Practice
• Maintanance of PV to ensure componenets are well maintained and not in a condition that could cause fires

We understand this concern and are not aware of any data or examples in the UK where solar farms have effected property values, therefore, we do not consider that the proposed development would impact on property values. Further, property values are not a material planning consideration in the decision making of a planning application.

Yes there are. The locations of the small mammal gaps in the fence will be determined by an Ecologist based on up-to date survey data ahead of construction. This commitment will be secured through a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) which sets out a methodology for how a construction project will manage environmental risks, minimise ecological impact, and comply with regulations.

Mammal gaps will be incorporated into fencing to allow continued movement of small mammals, such as hedgehogs and brown hare to pass though.

Deer fencing is proposed to safeguard equipment and the deers from each other, within the development area. The south east corner and access point for the site had been kept free of any fencing, to allow movement in this area, whilst no further fencing is proposed outside of the singular field used for this development.

Yes, the development will include appropriate security measures, including fencing and surveillance, while minimising any impact on the surrounding environment:

1. A 2m high post and wire mesh deer fence will be constructed around the development, with vehicle gates to allow vehicle and pedestrian access (there will be no public access to the development area). Appropriate safety signage will be displayed on the fencing and gates.
2. Infrared and/or thermal imaging CCTV cameras will be installed along the site boundary to provide continuous security coverage. The cameras will be inward-facing, ensuring that monitoring is limited to the development area only, with no intrusion on public rights of way or neighbouring land.
3. No permanent external lighting is proposed as part of the development, to minimise visual and ecological impact. Temporary lighting may be used during the construction phase where necessary. Any emergency lighting required for maintenance or safety purposes will be deployed on a temporary, as-needed basis only.