Solar Site Search
May 2015
During the course of 2014, there was a tightening of
Government’s approach to determining the acceptability of
ground-mounted solar farms.
Constraint Mapping
For a number of years now, national planning policy has
encouraged the re-use of brownfield land over greenfield and for
significant development to take place on poorer quality agricultural
land rather than the ‘best and most versatile’. These overarching
aims were just that: ‘overarching’ in the sense that they related
to all forms of development and ‘aims’ rather than absolute
requirements.
Government’s Planning Practice Guidance of March 2014
highlighted a need for decision-makers to focus solar farm
proposals on previously developed and non-agricultural land.
Upon a strict interpretation, the Practice Guidance introduces a
requirement on developers of large scale solar farms to carry out
an alternative site search exercise in order to demonstrate why
their application site is the most appropriate, when compared to
others.
This raises a number of questions for those pursuing solar farm
proposals through the planning process, namely:
1. When is it necessary to undertake an alternative
site search?
2. What is a reasonable area in which to search for
alternative sites?
Where land is designated at a relatively
high grade it should not be preferred for the
siting of [solar farm] developments.
3. What are the key factors in discounting
alternative sites as being less preferable?
Nick Boles
Agricultural Land Classification
4. How can a search assessment be undertaken that
is robust yet manageable and cost-effective?
NLP’s solar site search tool can
help answer these questions.
P.T.O
nlpplanning.com
Terrain Modelling
NLP’s solar site search tool
NLP has expertise in developing bespoke methodologies to
assess potential alternative sites for a range of land uses,
including major development in the Green Belt, proposals in
national parks, residential development on greenfield land, as well
as retail proposals and commercial leisure uses in out-of-centre
locations. Our methodologies have been tested and accepted by
local planning authorities and Planning Inspectors at appeal. We
have also previously inputted into practice guidance prepared by
Government in respect of alternative site assessment.
What is NLP’s solar site search tool?
In response to the Planning Practice Guidance’s approach to
solar farms, NLP has combined it’s experience in alternative site
assessment with our in-house geographical information systems
(GIS) service in order to devise a site search tool for assessing
alternative sites for ground-mounted solar farms.
Our GIS service is capable of mapping, UK-wide, agricultural
land classifications overlaid with national and locally designated
environmental constraints, topographical data, heritage assets,
and other potential constraints to development (including flooding).
The results of the GIS-based mapping exercise are then refined,
following a robust methodology, to account for other relevant local
circumstances, including the availability of previously developed
land. NLP is then able to use this information to present a
reasoned and justified case as to why the selected solar farm
site represents the most suitable site compared to other
available land.
Benefits of NLP’s solar site search tool
Our solar site search tool can be of benefit at two key stages in
the process:
...there is no excuse for putting solar
farms in the wrong places...applications for
renewable energy development, such as
solar farms, should be approved only if the
impact, including the impact on landscape the visual and the cumulative impact - is or
can be made acceptable. That is a very high
test.
Nick Boles
• Site sifting: when searching for suitable and
viable sites for solar farm development; and
• Site justification: when demonstrating the
appropriateness of a site at pre-application and
planning application stages.
NLP has a proven track record in delivering effective planning
consultancy services to a range of clients in the energy sector and
has been at the forefront of developing tools to provide sound and
reasoned evidence in support of its client’s development proposals.
For more information in respect of NLP’s solar site search
service, please contact us.
Contact Us
Newcastle
Anthony Greally
[email protected]
0191 261 5685
nlpplanning.com
Leeds
Jonathan Standen
[email protected]
0113 397 1397
Bristol
Andy Cockett
[email protected]
0117 403 1980