Planning permission was granted in 2025 for a Solar Farm at a 27 hectare site near Caddington, Bedfordshire. The site straddled Central Bedfordshire Council and Dacorum Council, hence two applications were required and associated liaison with both authorities to achieve the necessary consents.
An initial scheme proposed an EV Service Station alongside (and powered by) the Solar Farm. However, Central Bedfordshire raised highway concerns with aspects of the access arrangement into the Service Station. The scheme was subsequently broken down into the separate components of the Solar Farm and Service Station, an application for the latter of which is yet to be determined by Central Bedfordshire Council.
Achieving consent for the Solar Farm itself was not straight forward, lying within the Chilterns National Landscape designation and partly within the Green Belt. However, following detailed discussion with Landscape Officers at the Council(s) an appropriate layout and planting was agreed, to ensure an acceptable impact and recommendation of approval. The local community raised no objection to the scheme.