Oaklands Farm Solar Park Information Page

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.

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.

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, following strict DCO planning requirements.

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.

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.

We submitted our application to the Planning Inspectorate in February 2024 and it was accepted in March 2024. Acceptance means that the Inspector agreed that the application included all the necessary documents and that these were of a satisfactory standard to examine the application.

The Pre-Examination phase involved preparation to commence the formal Examination process, including providing relevant information and documentation, organising hearings and providing statutory notices in line with DCO requirements. The Examination phase was an intensive 6-month process of written questions and responses, supplemented by various technical and public hearings, in which all stakeholders provided detailed input in response to issues raised by the Examiner. Members were able to register their interest and were able to attend specific public hearings to voice their opinions on the proposals.

Based on the discussion in the hearings and detailed written questions and responses, the Examiner closed the Examination on 19 December 2024 and began the 3-month process to provide a recommendation to the SoS. The Recommendation Report was provided to the SoS in March 2025, and the Development Consent Order was granted on 19 June 2025.