Consultation

Public consultation

Public consultation took place between 25^th August and 15^th September 2025 and residents were invited to provide feedback online or by post.

We also held a consultation event at North Newton Village Hall on 8^th September 2025. We were pleased to have constructive conversations with over 30 residents and heard views on a broad range of topics.

Key community concerns were:

Panel proximity to dwellings
Visual impacts
Use of agricultural land
Site selection
Traffic and transport
Impact on ecology
Flooding
Cable route

We have used the feedback to inform the project’s next steps and have carefully considered all responses. We have now made changes to the proposed design, layout and environmental enhancements to reflect our commitment to the community.

Summary of changes to the proposal

We have removed solar panels in areas that were requested and where vegetative screening would be least effective. We have also increased the intervening area between the project and properties and gardens. The key areas of change are:
- Removal of approximately 1.4 acres (0.6 ha) of solar panel area in the north of the eastern land parcel, Increasing the distance from the project to property boundaries by approximately 70m in some places.
- Removal of approximately 3 acres (1.2 ha) of solar panels in the east of the eastern land parcel, with the majority removed between the residential dwelling and St Michael’s Church.
- Removal of approximately 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) of solar panels in the south of the eastern land parcel, increasing the distance from the project to Tuckerton by approximately 100m in some places.
- Removal of approximately 0.9acres (0.3 ha) of solar panels from the southern land parcel to increase the distance between the project to property boundaries by approximately 40m in some places.
- We have relocated the boundary fence, proposed swales, and service tracks to follow the reduced solar panel area.
We will plant further vegetation – additional hedgerows, shrubs and orchards that will provide additional screening to help limit visual and amenity impacts and increase the site’s biodiversity net gain.
In total, approximately 8.8 acres (3.6 ha) of solar panel area has been removed. This is equivalent to removing approximately 5 Wembley stadium pitches of solar panels.

Consultation Responses

We are pleased to provide more information about the topics raised most frequently during the consultation period.

The site selection process

Selecting potential sites for solar developments is a complex process, dependent on many technical, environmental, planning factors, and economic viability.

The national grid has capacity issues that limits suitable points of connection, meaning that there is a finite amount of grid capacity that can accommodate the transmission of energy from one area to another. Therefore, a solar development needs to be able to connect to the national grid at a location where there is existing capacity for additional electricity to be transmitted, or where future capacity is projected. Furthermore, any applicant is required to have an agreement in place to export electricity at the location where capacity exists. Otherwise, a scheme cannot deliver its fundamental objective of generating renewable energy.

Following discussions with the National Grid, we were advised that there is capacity for a solar farm with the export capacity of 30MWac to be absorbed at the Bridgewater substation. Further discussions revealed that there is capacity along the existing 66kV overhead electricity transmission line between Bridgewater and Taunton to absorb and transmit the energy across the National Grid infrastructure. As such, we began searching for land within proximity of this transmission line.

The search area is shown below. The search area considered is a 3km radius from the transmission line as due to rising costs and electrical inefficiencies, any site beyond this 3km search area would not be feasible and was excluded from the search area.

Following the creation of the search area, environmental constraints were applied to the area. As such, land within the following designations were discounted from the search area:

World Heritage Site;
Scheduled Monument;
Registered Parks and Gardens;
Listed Building;
Conservation Areas;
Ancient Woodland;
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI);
Local Wildlife Site (LWS);
Local Nature Reserve (LNR);
Land within the floodplain / Environment Agency defined land within Flood Zones 2 and 3; and
National Landscapes (formerly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)).

Land within the northern section of the search area was discounted as it is within Flood Zones 2 and 3. The land within the Quantocks Hills National Landscape in the northwest of the search area was also discounted along with a further 500m buffer zone around the National Landscape to avoid significant landscape and visual impacts arising from the views within the National Landscape.

Land within proximity to Hestercome Registered Park and Gardens and Halswell Park Registered Park and Gardens was also discounted, along with a 250m buffer zone around Registered Parks and Gardens, on landscape and visual grounds.

From this, the key area of focus within the search area was the central area south of the transmission line roughly between North Petherton and Monkton close to the A38 and M5 due to the presence of the National Landscape north of the transmission line.

Next, consideration of utilising brownfield land was prioritised. A search of the Sedgemoor Brownfield Register 2018 was conducted but no available brownfield land of a sufficient size was identified. Therefore, the search for a site had to focus on greenfield land.

Upon looking at the greenfield land available within the search area, the majority constituted Grade 1 or Grade 2 agricultural land. Planning policy does not preclude solar farms from being developed on Best and Most Versatile (BMV) land but does encourage that lower grade land be prioritised where possible. In this case, considering the area of land required, topography and access, along with the constraints addressed above, the search area was going to require the use of BMV land.

Upon establishing that baseline position, we approached landowners to begin discussions on whether they would be receptive to a solar farm development on their land.

Proposed use of agricultural land

We explored all feasible options for site locations, carefully weighing the benefits of sustainable energy production against its potential impact to the nation’s food supply. Where sites with poorer quality land are available, these are prioritised – however the complex factors impacting site selection do not always align, leaving higher quality agricultural land as the only option. As addressed under ‘the site section process’ section, once the various environmental and land use constraints were applied and the search area concentrated down to the most viability locations, the majority of the remaining viable land constitutes BMV land. Therefore, whilst it would be preferable to avoid BMV land, the planning system acknowledges that the wider planning balance may direct development towards such locations.

We acknowledge that our development would have a very small impact on the country’s arable land availability.

However, it is worth noting that:

Solar farms currently occupy less than 0.1% of the UK’s land. To meet the government’s net zero target, the Climate Change Committee estimates that we will need 90GW of solar by 2050 (70GW by 2035), which would mean solar farms would at most account for approximately 0.6% of UK land – less than the amount currently occupied by golf courses, for example.

Furthermore, the UK Government Food Security Report, published in December 2021, also implies that solar farms do not in any way present a risk to the UK’s food security. The report is explicit and states: “The biggest medium to long term risk to the UK’s domestic production comes from climate change and other environmental pressures like soil degradation, water quality and biodiversity.” The report quantifies this risk, noting that under a medium emissions scenario, climate change could reduce the proportion of BMV land from a baseline of 38.1% to 11.4% by 2050, a 70% reduction.

Importantly, there is no current planning policy requiring landowners of BMV land to use it solely for food production – rather, it is described as the most flexible, productive and efficient land for food and non-food crops. Other land uses include feed crops for animals, biofuel production, and there are other policy measures which could take the land out of food production in favour of an alternative use. On this basis, food security does not have material weight in the determination of a planning application. Source

This position has also been backed up through a number of high profile planning applications, planning appeals and resultant case law. These include Bramley (APP/H1705/W/22/3304561), Scruton (APP/G2713/W/23/3315877) and Longfield (EN 010118).

Therefore, when assessing the planning application, Somerset Council will scrutinise the expected benefits of the solar farm, which include climate change adaptation, energy security and sustainable energy generation, against its potential impact on food production and established case law.

We encourage landowners to continue using land underneath the panels. Sites are particularly suited to sheep grazing, with shaded areas and seeded native plant species.

Solar farms are reversible installations, lasting approximately 40 years before being decommissioned. The land underneath requires little maintenance and is regenerates over time. It is expected that the soil condition will be improved through four decades of sensitive land management.

The biggest threat to farmland, food security and rural communities is the climate crisis (Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, 2024). Solar farms provide a real long-term benefit to the country’s food supply by contributing to climate change mitigation and reducing CO₂ emissions.

Cabling

Residents were concerned about the possible traffic and transport disruption that may be associated with installing cables to connect the site to the National Grid.

The cable to connect our site to the National Grid does not form part of this application and will follow at a later date.

The routing decision is made by the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) – the licenced company responsible for operating and maintaining the electricity distribution networks. Whilst Ampyr may recommend preferred routes, the final decision is made by the DNO based on the expected impacts on the environment, the community, traffic and transport networks, as well as financial considerations. We will influence the route chosen as much as possible to make every effort to minimise disruption to the local community. Ultimately, however, the final decision is not under Ampyr’s remit to control.

Traffic and transport

Traffic will increase while materials are delivered to the site – access will be via the A38 and a short section of Moon Lane. We will work with the council to create a new junction between Moon Lane and Brook Street. There will be no vehicular movements through the village of North Newton. A section of hedgerow will need to be removed to form the new access onto Moon Lane and possibly also at certain field gates to accommodate access between fields. Any hedgerow loss will be kept to a minimum where possible and as part of the Biodiversity Net Gain and landscape enhancement works, we will offset any hedgerow loss with significant new planting.

When the site becomes operational, staff will visit the site for monitoring on a monthly basis, travelling in a car or small van.

Public Rights of Way

There are three Public Rights of Way (PRoW) that run through or adjacent to the site. These are:

PRoW BW 23/54 along the northern edge of the site, between Brook Street and the North Newton Cricket Club.
PRoW BW 23/55 crosses the northwestern field of the site, between Adder Lane and North Newton Cricket Club.
PRoW BW 23/44 crosses the southwestern site field between Brook Street and Tuckerton Farm.
Another section of PRoW BW 23/44 runs along the southern edge of the eastern field, along Bankland Stream. It crosses a corner of the site before leading onto the land at Tuckerton Grange, which is next to the site.

We have designed the project carefully to keep these paths open. We will maintain 20m buffer zones to these public paths so that they remain accessible once operational. Improved signage and removal of stiles with booths will also be considered to improve accessibility.

The intention is also the same for construction. However, should any diversion or closure of these paths be required, it would be temporary, and only for the purpose of keeping users of the PRoW network safe. We will make every effort to minimise the timeframe of any closures or diversions. Once the solar farm is in operation, there will be no further impact on the routes.

We are proposing to plant additional native species wherever possible. This will include new hedgerows on either side of PRoW BW 23/55 to help screen some of the views of the development from people using that path.

We’ll also plant a hedgerow between the boundary fence and Path BW 23/54. This will filter views for users of this route, which passes through the site and around the edge of the cricket club grounds.

Previous applications

Some residents expressed concerns about a previous planning application refusal. No previous planning application has been submitted that includes the site of our proposed development. An EIA Screening and Scoping exercise looking at the environmental impacts associated with a solar farm, development on this site was submitted in 2023. The outcome of which has informed the design of our development.