The consultation process
This page provides an overview of our consultation and engagement activities and information on how you can get in touch with the Mallard Pass Solar Farm team.
Our consultation process
We are grateful for the engagement we have had with key stakeholders and local communities throughout the pre-application process and to date. This has been invaluable in helping us shape a strong set of proposals for Mallard Pass Solar Farm that will support the urgent need to decarbonise our electricity system and enhance the local environment.
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 therefore applied for a Development Consent Order (DCO) application through the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), which will be determined by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). For more information on the DCO process, please visit our webpage on the development process by clicking here.
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. To find out more about our Stage Two consultation, please click on the button below.
Consultation Report and DCO Application
Your responses matter. All feedback received to our statutory consultation has been addressed in our Consultation Report that was submitted to PINS as part of our 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 stakeholder feedback helped further refine our proposals for Mallard Pass, and allowed us to finalise the details of our DCO application for the project.
DCO Application 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.
DCO 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.
Latest update
We are now in the Recommendation and Decision stage of the DCO application process. For more information on next steps for Mallard Pass, please visit our webpage on the development process by clicking here.
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.