Have your say

 
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This page provides updates on our consultation activities and information on how you can get in touch with the Mallard Pass Solar Farm team.

Recommendation and Decision Stage

Our Development Consent Order (DCO) application for Mallard Pass Solar Farm was submitted on 24 November 2022, and accepted for Examination on 21 December 2022 by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), who acts on behalf of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The Examination for Mallard Pass began on 16 May 2023 and came to an end on 16 November 2023. 

Across the six-month Examination period, the Examining Authority (ExA) appointed by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) considered our DCO application for Mallard Pass Solar Farm. The Examination included onsite inspections, hybrid hearings (in person with online available) and the digital submission of additional written material from a variety of stakeholders.  

Throughout the Examination, our team was given the opportunity to further discuss the DCO with key stakeholders and offer further details and explanations where needed, as well as respond to further material submitted by others. All information regarding the Examination (including documents submitted and recordings of previous hearings) is available on the PINS project website linked here. 

We then entered the Recommendation stage of the DCO application process, which is a stage during which the ExA has three months to write a confidential report and recommendation to the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), as to whether the application should be granted or not. The ExA made its recommendation to the Secretary of State for DESNZ on Friday 16 February 2024. 

This means the 3-month Recommendation stage of the DCO application process has come to an end, and we are now in the Decision stage, which also lasts three months. This is the time during which the Secretary of State for DESNZ reviews and considers the ExA’s recommendation and decides whether to grant the DCO.  

To find out more about the DCO application process, please visit the PINS webpage linked here. To view a presentation about the DCO process, please click here for a PINS’ informational video, or click here to read a transcript.  

If you participated in the examination process, we sincerely thank you for your time and contributions. Local residents and community members can continue to contact us through our information lines listed below and sign up here to receive updates on the project.

Our consultation process

Pre-Application

Mallard Pass Solar Farm is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) as it is proposed to have a generating capacity exceeding 50 megawatts (MW). We have applied for a Development Consent Order (DCO) through the Planning Inspectorate (PINS). The application will be determined by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

Prior to the submission of the DCO application on 24 November 2022, we consulted on our plans for the project, engaging with local communities and consulting on and refining our proposals across two stages of consultation.

We first introduced our early-stage proposals for Mallard Pass Solar Farm during our non-statutory Stage One community consultation. Stage One ran for six weeks, held between Thursday 04 November and 16 December 2021. To find out more about our Stage One consultation, please click on the button below.

On 19 May 2022, we published our Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), which explained how we planned to carry out our Stage Two Statutory Consultation for Mallard Pass. To read it, please click here.

The SoCC was prepared in consultation with the host Local Planning Authorities (LPAs), South Kesteven District Council, Rutland County Council and Lincolnshire County Council, as well as Peterborough City Council due to the consultation zone extending into their authority area. We took account of these comments when producing our final SoCC.

Our Stage Two Statutory Consultation ran for ten weeks, between Thursday 26 May 2022 and Thursday 02 August 2022. We are grateful to everyone who has provided feedback on our updated proposals for Mallard Pass and who attended our consultation events during this Stage Two consultation.

  • Community webinar event — Friday 17 June 2022 — 11 am to 1 pm — Watch the recording back by clicking here. View follow-up responses to unanswered questions by clicking here.

  • Essendine Village Hall consultation event — Saturday 25 June 2022 — 11 am to 5 pm.

  • Stamford Town Hall consultation event — Wednesday 29 June 2022 — 3 pm to 8 pm.

  • Greatford Village Hall consultation event — Thursday 30 June 2022 — 3 pm to 8 pm.

  • Ryhall Village Hall consultation event — Friday 01 July 2022 — 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

  • Community webinar event — Tuesday 05 July 2022 — 6 pm to 8 pm. Watch the recording back by clicking here. View follow-up responses to unanswered questions by clicking here. To view the presentation slides, please click here.

You can also still view our Stage Two virtual exhibition by clicking here, and view the materials we consulted on during this period by clicking here.

Consultation Report

Your responses matter. All of the comments, questions and issues raised during our consultation are carefully logged and considered, and we have reviewed all of the feedback received as part of our consultation for Mallard Pass Solar Farm.

All feedback we have received has been addressed in our Consultation Report that was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) as part of our Development Consent Order (DCO) application. The Consultation Report is available for the public to view and download on the PINS project-dedicated webpage (accessible by clicking here), and on the Documents webpage of our project website (accessible by clicking here).

Our Consultation Report submitted with our DCO application:

  • Describes our consultation process.

  • Explains how we have satisfied and adhered to legal requirements.

  • Details how we have worked with Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to ensure our consultation is suitable for the area through the proposals set out in the Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC, available by clicking here).

  • Details the feedback and consultation responses we have received.

  • Responds to this feedback, including explaining how we had regard to your feedback and how it influenced our proposals.

Together with the results of ongoing environmental and technical studies, this helped further refine our proposals for Mallard Pass, and allowed us to finalise the details of our DCO application for the project.

Submission and Acceptance

We finalised our DCO application and submitted this to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) on 24 November 2022. On 21 December 2022, PINS, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) accepted the DCO Application for Mallard Pass Solar Farm. All of our application documents are available to view on the Planning Inspectorate’s website linked here and also on our project website Documents webpage linked here.

The period for the public to register with PINS as an Interested Party to the Examination began on Thursday 05 January 2023 and ran for eight weeks, coming to a close at midnight on Thursday 02 March 2023. At the launch of this period, we publicised the application as required under section 56 of the 2008 Act and published our section 56 notice across local and national media. The section 56 notice notified people how to register as an Interested Party, and is available to view, print and download on our Documents webpage, linked here, or by directly clicking here.

During this eight-week period, we invited members of the public to look over the DCO Application and consider whether they would like to submit a Relevant Representation (a written summary of a person’s views on the Application) to the Planning Inspectorate about it. By submitting this Representation, the person (or organisation) became an ‘Interested Party’ to the Examination, and moving forward received ongoing correspondence from PINS on how to get further involved and on the progress of the Examination. This included the opportunity to attend and participate in the Examination hearings.

The Examining Authority then used the views put forward in the Relevant Representations to carry out an initial assessment of the principal issues. Following the close of the registration period, all submitted representations were published on the Mallard Pass webpage on the PINS website, which can be accessed via this link.

Examination

The Examination stage began on 16 May 2023 following a meeting run and chaired by the Examining Authority, known as the Preliminary Meeting, which Interested Parties were invited to. The DCO Examination process starts the day of the Preliminary Meeting and lasts up to 6 months. For more information on the Preliminary Meeting, please click here to view an informational video by PINS, or alternatively click here to read a transcript of the PINS video.

In line with requirements, both PINS and the Applicant publicised the details of the Preliminary Meeting and subsequent Examination hearings to local communities and stakeholders. The Applicant did this in what is known as a Rule 13(6) notice, notifying the public of the next steps in the process and providing information on how to get involved. PDF copy of the Rule 13(6) Notices published throughout the course of the Mallard Pass Examination are available on the Documents webpage of this website.

Across the six-month Examination period, Interested Parties were invited to provide more details of their views in writing. The examining authority set a number of rounds of written questions designed to ensure that it has all the information it needs to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State. It also held a series of hearings where specified matters can be considered in more detail.

The Examination stage for Mallard Pass came to a close on 16 November 2023. All documents submitted during the Examination period are available on the Mallard Pass webpage of the PINS website linked here.

Next Steps

We are now in the Recommendation and Decision stage of the DCO application process.

The Recommendation period is a stage during which the ExA has three months to write a report and recommendation to the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), as to whether the application should be granted or not.

The Decision stage immediately follows and also lasts three months. This is the time during which the Secretary of State for DESNZ reviews and considers the ExA’s recommendation and decides whether to grant the DCO. More information about the DCO application process can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.  Please click here to be redirected.

Timeline