Kingsway Solar Farm - Updates

Kingsway Solar is a proposed solar farm and battery storage project planned for parcels of land in and around Balsham, West Wratting, Weston Colville, and Weston Green in Cambridgeshire.

The applicants, Downing Renewable Developments, are seeking a Development Consent Order (DCO) to install solar photovoltaic panels, battery storage technology, and associated infrastructure to connect the project to the national grid. The proposals will be assessed and determined by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The project falls into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) process defined through the Planning Act 2008 (as amended), and will be considered under Part 3 Section 14 of the legislation because the generating station is located in England and has a generating capacity of over 50 megawatts (see section 15(2) of the 2008 Act).

Responsibility for accepting and examining the NSIP application rests with the Secretary of State and not the local authorities, who are identified as statutory consultees, or ‘host’ authorities, in the NSIP process.

There are 2 ‘host’ authorities (Cambridgeshire County Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council) involved in this NSIP project. Subject to final design East Cambridgeshire District Council may also be a Host Authority. The ‘host’ planning authorities intend to work together as far as possible to ensure full scrutiny of this project is undertaken.

Have your say

It is important to note that as the ‘host’ planning authorities are not the determining authorities, any correspondence in relation to this matter needs to be directed to Kingsway Solar Farm in the first instance and then the Planning Inspectorate.

Please visit the Planning Inspectorate website for further details of the NSIP process for this project.

Details of proposals, including any consultation events being held, are available on the Kingsway Solar Farm .

Consultation

The non-statutory consultation (stage one consultation) launched on 31 October 2024, will run for a period of 6 weeks, closing at 11:59pm on 12 December 2024.

More information on the consultation process can be found on the Kingsway Solar Farm Limited website, including the stage one consultation documents and information about how to get involved and provide your feedback on proposals.

More information can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s webpage for this project.