Sunnica could damage communities, homes, businesses and more

01 Nov 2022

Cabinet members at West Suffolk Council will be recommended to formally object to the Sunnica Energy Farm planning application when it meets next week.

Although the Council has already raised concerns, next Tuesday’s meeting will be the first opportunity that it has to give its opinion on the plans, which are to be decided by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. 

If it gets the go ahead, the sprawling solar farm would be built across four sites, one near Mildenhall and West Row, another near Freckenham and Worlington and then on two other sites close in East Cambridgeshire close to Newmarket. Cables would then run underground to connect the sites. 

West Suffolk Council already supports the principle of renewable energy including solar power. As well as placing solar panels on roofs of businesses, community and public buildings, it also owns one of the largest Council owned solar farms at Toggam Farm. But on one 17.5 hectares site, the 12.4MW solar farm near Lakenheath is a fraction of the size of that proposed by Sunnica. The Sunnica application by comparison would be for a solar farm on more than 621 hectares, over 35 times the size of Toggam Solar Farm. There would be additional land for Battery Energy Storage as well as a buffer where no other development could take place.

It would also have a generating capacity in excess of 50MW which is why the project is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) by the Planning Act 2008 and is to be decided by the Secretary of State.

As a statutory consultee, West Suffolk Council has already been asked to provide the national planning inspectorate with assessments of the likely impact of the scheme. The planning inspectorate is gathering evidence that will inform the Secretary of State’s decision. 

West Suffolk Council has expressed concerns over the impact to ecology and biodiversity, the local landscape, flood risk, traffic, as well as potential damage to the horse racing industry and tourism. It has also echoed safety fears raised by Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service over the proposed battery energy storage system. 

Cllr David Roach, Cabinet Member for Planning at West Suffolk Council said: “We are committed to solar and other renewable energy as part of our work to help tackle the climate change emergency.

“But this application, for all the laudable intentions, is too big and not in the right location. The result is that it could have a damaging impact on our communities, their homes and businesses, as well as to nature, the local landscape and more.  That is why I will be asking my West Suffolk Council Cabinet colleagues next Tuesday to agree that we formally object to the proposals and call on the Secretary of State not to grant the application.”

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