Useful Information

The proposed development and planning process
Planning process so far

Two preliminary applications have been made to Harrogate Borough Council on behalf of the developers to determine whether an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) would need to be submitted as part of the full planning application and what this should cover.

The most recent of these applications can be found on the planning portal under the reference 21/02403/SCOPE.

Planning Portal

The full planning application has yet to be submitted to Harrogate Borough Council, but we believe it will be submitted spring 2022.

As part of the planning process Gridserve will need to undertake a consultation exercise with local residents.

Once the full planning application is submitted, we will have only 16 weeks for objections to be submitted.

Documents & Downloads

A copy of leaflets and letters can be downloaded by clicking on the links. Please be aware that the site boundary and size of the proposed development have changed since the original leaflet was issued.

Leaflet for local residents

Download Leaflet PDF
Letter to Andrew Jones MP
Download Letter PDF
Letter from Andrew Jones MP
Download Letter PDF
Follow-up email for leaflet campaign
Download Leaflet PDF

Letter to Harrogate Borough Council

Download Letter PDF

Gridserve Letter

Download Letter PDF
Proposed Development
Details of the proposed development are shown on the proposed site layout plan which has been included in EIA Scoping planning application to Harrogate Borough Council. This is the provisional plan submitted from GRIDSERVE 12/05/2021, which is subject to change.

A copy of the proposed site layout plan can be downloaded by clicking on the link below. Please be aware that the document is very large and might take some time to download.

Proposed Site Layout PDF
We have overlayed the proposed layout plan onto a satellite image of the area to show the scale of the proposed development.
A series of over 1800 solar arrays at a height of 3 m containing over 85,000 solar panels
44 shipping containers located across the site containing battery energy storage systems and power converter equipment.
A battery storage and power conversion plant located on land opposite Scotton & Lingerfield Primary School containing 39 shipping containers and a substation
Access roads crossing across the site including across the existing footpath and bridleway
A 2.5 m high wire mesh perimeter fence and security detection cameras
Underground cabling connecting to the Knaresborough substation to the south-east of the site off Market Flat Lane

Photo Gallery

These photographs are from the Gridserve solar farm at Boscar Grange near Easingwold, and show the solar arrays, shipping containers and security fencing.

Use the arrows on the image to slide through the photos

Duration of the solar farm lease
The proposed lease of the site would be for a period of 30 years. Gridserve are likely to argue that this is a temporary use of the site, and therefore it could be returned to its current agricultural use at the end of the lease and that any impacts of the development would therefore only be temporary. However, 30 years is a very long time! The construction a solar farm the size of the proposed development at Scotton will cost Gridserve millions of pounds, therefore it is very unlikely that the site will ever be returned to its current agricultural use. Instead, it is very likely that any equipment that has reached the end of its life will be replaced and the lease will be extended.

Who benefits?

Gridserve, financial investors and the landowners will be the winners, it won’t be the local residents. The proposed development is an industrial scale power plant and will make Gridserve and the financial investors £millions over the 30 year lease. The power generated by the solar panels will go straight to the national grid – this will not be a source of cheap electricity for people living in the vicinity of the solar farm. Residents will also lose as they will no longer be able to enjoy a beautiful part of the countryside.
Isn’t a solar farm better than a housing development?
We don’t want the site to have any form of development on it, and that would include change of use from productive agricultural land.

Sign-up

By providing your name, email address and village location, you will receive email updates from the Stop Scotton Solar Farm campaign. If you have already signed up to the campaign, following the initial leaflet drop in 2021, your details are already held.

Details will be held explicitly for the campaign only and not shared with any other party. If you wish to remove your details at any time, please contact us.

Consent(Required)

Home
Useful info
In the media
Reasons to Object
Get Involved
Contact us

Privacy Policy