Suffolk County Council action on Sunnica solar farm approval

The local authority has written to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Ed Miliband, regarding the move to approve the Sunnica solar farm, which is set to be built on land spanning the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border.

The farm is set to be built across four sites which will be connected underground - one near Mildenhall and West Row, another near Freckenham and Worlington and then on two other sites in East Cambridgeshire, close to Newmarket.

The council's pre-action protocol letter is the first step in potential judicial review proceedings against the project, in a bid to secure appropriate funding for work that the council will have to do as a result of the scheme.

Protests were previously held over the plans (Image: Newsquest)

A statement from the council said: "The council believes that, in his haste to approve the application in just a matter of days, the Secretary of State ignored the council’s funding arguments.

"This means that the developer, Sunnica, only has to pay a minimal amount to cover costs that will be forced upon the council, as a result of their project going ahead.

"This comes at a time when local authorities are having to make difficult financial decisions across all service areas, in order to prioritise supporting the most vulnerable in their communities, through adult social care and SEND."

Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s deputy cabinet member for nationally significant infrastructure projects, said: "The new Secretary of State has made a terrible start to his tenure, by waving through the awful Sunnica application with reckless abandon.

"In doing so, he has shown scant regard for the communities affected, and for the local authorities who must pick up considerable amounts of additional work as a result of the project going ahead.

"He was only in post for a matter of days before approving a number of energy projects - it would have been impossible for him to fully review the Sunnica application, and to see how flawed it was.

"One of the crucial things he has ignored is the insufficient amount that Sunnica has proposed to reimburse local councils for dealing with conditions attached to the application. This is an embarrassing, clumsy and entirely avoidable error by the Secretary of State. This is why we are taking legal action."

When a nationally significant infrastructure project is given permission it is on the condition that the developer follows the requirements laid out in the Development Consent Order, which is monitored by the council and signed off before it can move onto the next stage of construction. 

Mr Rout said: "This is a time when councils across the country are financially stretched and facing difficult decisions about their budgets in order to support those who need it most in our communities. The Secretary of State has added to this pressure by heaping more work on our authority, without adequate compensation.

“With one swift stroke of a pen, he has set a dangerous precedent and has dismissed the voices of thousands concerned residents, leaving their communities with an uncertain future, and our council with woefully inadequate remuneration for the work that is ahead of us.”

Nick Timothy, MP for West Suffolk (Image: Newsquest)

Nick Timothy, MP for West Suffolk, said: "I welcome this action by Suffolk County Council.

"The Sunnica project is completely inappropriate and should not have been approved by Ed Miliband. Indeed before the election Claire Coutinho, the last Secretary of State, had decided to block it.

"Mr Miliband made clear in his answer to my question in Parliament that he did not properly consider all the evidence in his rush to approve the application.

"There are likely to be other legal challenges, and we must hope that the courts see there has been a clear failure of process."

The previous government had put off making a decision on the controversial plan five times - but new Energy Secretary Mr Miliband took just seven days to give it the go ahead.

The proposal has been hugely controversial locally, with both former MP Matt Hancock and his newly-elected successor Mr Timothy objecting.

Sunnica and the Department for Energy and Net Zero have been approached for comment.