Local community engagement

Our projects are designed not only to limit potential impacts to the local environment, but to enhance local amenity and provide a tangible benefit for the local community that outlasts the development . Following comments received during pubic consultation our team will work with our planning and environmental consultants to maximise the benefits of the land to members of the public. For example, this could be more accessible footpaths, new native planting, improved highway safety, provision of electric vehicle charging facilities and many more. We take pride in providing enhanced environments for local residents and will listen to suggestions during the public consultation process to make the energy park something to be proud of and a real local asset. We seek to use our operational sites as educational facilities for local schools and training centres.

Yes, the solar farm will be provided with a perimeter deer fence, constructed of wooden poles and wire mesh to be in keeping with the rural surroundings. This fence is for security purposes and to prevent access of larger mammals to electrical equipment (for their safety and to prevent damage). However, the fencing will include mammal gates at required locations to ensure that small mammals can continue to pass into and out of the solar farm once operational.

We will undertake all required ecological surveys of the site to fully understand the wildlife which is present. The project will be designed to ensure any impacts are avoided, and where this is not possible mitigation and enhancement will be proposed to support wildlife. The limited access and interference on the site during operations creates a haven for wildlife rich with habitats.

Tree and hedgerow removal will be avoided where possible and mature trees would only be removed where they could not be avoided through design. Existing access points and agricultural field accesses are used where they exist, however, in some instances small sections of hedgerow will require removal for access between fields or to provide an adequate visibility at a new road junction. Any tree or vegetation removal is significantly compensated for by planting of new trees and hedgerows, species rich grassland and wildflower areas in order to create further screening and biodiversity enhancements resulting in a significant net biodiversity gain for each project.

Biodiversity is a key focus for us. Our landscape mitigation plans and management of the field margins provides habitat for pollinators and small birds and mammals. Amphibian habitat is retained and protected in existing hedges, ditches and ponds, and cuttings from around the site are used to make habitat piles for the benefit of invertebrates, small mammals and reptiles. Where there are local populations of barn owls we provide opportunities for them to nest onsite and use our ecologists to advice on optimum locations for other bird and bat boxes in more mature existing vegetation which remains unaffected by development.

The Public Rights of Way which pass through the site will be retained in their current route and access will always remain available, although there may need to be some temporary closures or diversions to manage safety during construction. Footpaths and bridleways are a key countryside asset for many in the local community. We protect and enhance them with extended and improved hedges so they can continue to be enjoyed. Behind these hedges is typically a 5m gap before we have our fence, and our solar panels are then a further 4m inside this fence. So the solar panels are about 9-10m from the path itself.

There is some noise generated on site during the construction stage – from the construction traffic and from installing and fixing the frame that supports the solar panels into the ground. However this is generally short term and can be managed through a Construction Environment Management Plan dictating hours of working, acceptable activities as well as points of contact for any neighbour concerns.

Once operational the only items which generate any noise are the inverters and batteries, where these are included as part of the solar farm infrastructure. In order to make sure that noise impacts are acceptable at sensitive locations these items are positioned as far as possible from receptors. A full noise assessment will be included within a planning application submitted to the local planning authority, which will have consideration to the background noise levels around the site and will be scrutinised by the Environmental Health Department. As you would expect of a solar farm, generation and operational activity is during the day when background noise levels are higher. limited electricity is generated in the evenings/ at night, when background noise levels are lower.

Generally we try and locate our projects in flood zone 1, which has the lowest risk of flooding. In the instance that developments are located in flood zones 2 or 3 then detailed flood modelling would be required to ensure all electrically sensitive equipment is located outside or above any modelled flood depths. In any case the solar farm will be designed to ensure that there is no increase in flood risk either on site or off site.

Generally, once operational, there can be improvements in surface water drainage when compared to the agricultural land use baseline – the presence of established species rich grassland cover beneath the panels ensures better infiltration of water runoff than fields which are often left bare for long periods in between crops. The solar farm also has a very small impermeable footprint limited to concrete foundations for inverters, transformers, battery containers and the substation/ electrical switchgear kiosks. The panels are mounted on very narrow metal frames screwed or pushed into the ground and all new access tracks are of a permeable aggregate construction. Any surface water runoff will be conveyed and stored via rural sustainable drainage solutions, such as swales. A detailed site specific flood risk assessment and surface water drainage strategy will be submitted as part of the planning application to the LPA.

During the construction and decommissioning phases there will be an increase in large vehicles used to deliver and remove equipment and materials. Specific consideration is given to select a route to site that minimises traffic on minor roads and through smaller villages and this will be publicised before a planning application is submitted. On average we anticipate over a six month period an increase of between 5-10 HGV’s per day but we use specialist transport consultants to ensure these impacts are limited and all potential effects on highways users is assessed and where necessary mitigated such as by limiting movements during the school run or at other peak times. Consultation will be undertaken with the local highways authority to agree the proposed access route to site as well as ensuring that safe access junctions with adequate visibility are provided.

During the operation of the solar farm, there will be a negligible increase in road traffic as solar farms are remotely operated and very easy to maintain with a small number of staff. Maintenance visits will be limited to around 20 a year and will be undertaken by transit van size vehicles and not HGVs.

The UK has an ambitious target to provide all of our electricity from low carbon sources by the year 2050 and solar generation is an important component, as part of a broad renewable energy mix. In order to achieve this goal, a large number of solar panels will be needed. The availability of roof spaces and brownfield sites is very limited, and therefore the use of sensitively located solar farms on agricultural land, where there is available grid connection capacity is imperative to provide a well- balanced and sustainable energy supply to the UK market. Solar farms have demonstrated over the last decade that they are a catalyst for significant improvement in biodiversity, natural habitat and soil recovery, and should be seen as an excellent opportunity to increase the quality of the UK’s farmland. They are also temporary developments and for their duration allow soils to take a rest from intensive agricultural practices and improve.

Solar panels are designed to absorb as much light as possible and not to reflect it, however sometimes glint can be produced as a direct reflection of the sun from the surface of the solar PV panel, and glare can occur as a source of bright light. Naturally occurring surfaces such as large water bodies are also much more reflective that a solar farm. Glint and glare needs to be assessed and managed – we do that by carrying out specialist assessments which involves the modelling of glint and glare effects on local receptors including residential properties, road and rail users and aviation receptors. Our solar farms are then designed so any impacts are mitigated to acceptable levels.

The perimeter fence will have inward facing close circuit television (CCTV) cameras mounted on wooden poles on the inside of the perimeter fence. These will be motion activated and not recording all the time. Any triggering of the CCTV by breach of the perimeter fence by an intruder will be notified to the asset manager and security protocols will be enacted. These cameras would not capture recording outside the perimeter fence. The CCTV would also rely on infra red imaging rather than lighting so there would be no perimeter lighting on the solar farm. The only lighting would be limited to low level motion activated bulk head lights on the inverter, transformer, battery storage and electrical switchgear kiosks across the site. These would only be triggered when emergency maintenance visits are undertaken during the night, which would be extremely infrequent.

Solar farms are not known to pose any significant health dangers. Unlike fossil fuels they do not release pollutants into the atmosphere so there is no impact from emissions on human health. Replacing fossil fuel power stations with renewable energy alternatives like solar farms means there will be less emissions from fossil fuels in the atmosphere in the longer term.

Exagen are aware of specific battery fires that have been reported globally. Incorporating experiences and lessons from these fires is key to our designs, including the appropriate liaison with the local Fire Brigade. Our design team will follow Construction Design and Management 2015 (CDM) regulations and have in-depth involvement in the project to prevent fires and Health, Safety, Security and Environmental (HSSE) risks. The planning applications for projects involving battery storage will include an Outline Battery Safety Management Plan.

The planning applications for projects involving battery storage will include an Outline Battery Safety Management Plan which includes measures such as:

• To separate transformers from adjacent structures and from each other by spatial separation or a firewall;
• Automatic fire, gas and smoke detection within the battery containers.
• Automatic fire suppression (e.g. sprinklers – water and/or gas based) within the battery containers.
• Use of fire-resistant non-combustible materials/enclosures around the components.
• Air ventilation and temperature control in battery containers to prevent overheating.
• Regular maintenance and testing of battery storage system.
• 24/7 remote control of the temperature of the components.

The Climate Change Act 2008 introduced the UK’s first legally binding target for 2050 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% compared to 1990 levels. Between 1990 and 2017, the UK reduced its emissions by 42% while growing the economy by more than two thirds. On 27 June 2019 the UK government amended the Climate Change Act recognising the need to go further, and set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. In response to this many local authorities have declared climate emergencies and have put in place climate change strategies and action plans.