Consultation

Our first stage of community consultation has now closed. Our Stage One Consultation ran for six weeks, from Tuesday 16 January 2024 to Tuesday 27 February 2024.

On Tuesday 27 February 2024, Stage One Consultation for Great North Road Solar Park closed. The purpose of this consultation was to introduce Elements Green, present our early proposals for Great North Road Solar Park, and give you the opportunity to provide your feedback. We would like to thank all those who have participated in our first round of community consultation, whether this has been through attending one of our events, contacting our communications channels, or providing feedback.

Where we are now

Information events

We held a series of in-person and online exhibition events during the first stage of consultation, providing opportunities for the community and key stakeholders alike to find out more information about the proposals and provide their feedback. We are grateful to everyone who attended our consultation events during this first stage of consultation.

Monday 29 January - 5:30pm – 7pm - Community webinar - To view the presentation slides, please click here, and to watch the video, please click here.
Tuesday 30 January - 12pm – 6pm - Eakring Cator Hall, Kirklington Road, Eakring, NG22 0DA
Wednesday 31 January - 2pm – 6pm - Laxton Village Hall, High St, Laxton, Newark, NG22 0NX
Thursday 01 February - 12pm – 6pm - Newark Town Hall, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 1DU
Monday 05 February - 5:30pm – 7pm - Community webinar - To view the presentation slides, please click here, and to watch the video, please click here.
Thursday 08 February - 2pm – 6pm - Carlton on Trent Village Hall, Main Street, Carlton-on-Trent, Newark, NG23 6NW
Friday 09 February - 2pm – 8pm - Maplebeck Village Hall, Main Street, Maplebeck, Newark, NG22 0BS
Saturday 10 February - 12pm – 5pm - Kelham House, Main Street, Kelham, Newark, NG23 5QP

Next steps

We are now reviewing all the comments submitted to us during the consultation to shape a strong set of proposals that are sensitive to and respect concerns of local communities. Our focus is on providing accurate and honest information to build an understanding of how Great North Road Solar Park can cheap generate low carbon energy, bring benefits while minimising adverse impacts on the local environment and surrounding communities.

Further to developing more detailed proposals for the project, we will then carry out a second stage of consultation. This is a statutory stage of consultation and is intended to give you the opportunity to comment on our updated proposals and how they have evolved since this initial consultation. We expect to carry out this second stage of consultation towards the end of 2024.

We will continue to engage with local councils, community groups and technical consultees, and will undertake further environmental assessments ahead of publishing our Preliminary Environmental Information Report, anticipated for Autumn of this year ahead the second stage of consultation.

Your feedback is important to us

First stage of community consultation (non-statutory)

This first stage of consultation is non-statutory. While not formally required, it is intended to give local communities a real opportunity to influence the proposed development from an early stage to gain a better understanding of what we are proposing and its potential impacts.

The aim of this consultation is to introduce Elements Green and the overall project, share our early-stage proposals and give you the opportunity to have your say, share your views and local knowledge.

We will use the feedback we receive to inform and shape a strong set of proposals that are sensitive to and respect concerns of local communities.

We will acknowledge and record all the comments submitted to us during consultation, taking them into consideration to help inform our decisions as we evolve and finalise our proposals.

Second stage of consultation (statutory)

Further to developing more detailed proposals for the project, we will then carry out a second stage of consultation. This is a statutory stage of consultation required by the application process for NSIPs.

This statutory stage of consultation is intended to give you the opportunity to comment on our updated proposals and how they have evolved since the initial consultation.

We will be specifically interested in seeking your views on:

The location of equipment for the solar and energy park
The cable connection between the solar energy park and Staythorpe substation
The measures we are proposing to mitigate the impacts associated with the project during construction and when it becomes operational.

We expect to carry out this second stage of consultation towards the end of 2024. Further to this consultation closing, we will review our proposals in light of feedback received along with the findings from our ongoing assessments so we can finalise and submit our application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate. As the developer, we have a duty to demonstrate how we have taken your views into account in developing our final application.