Future climate conditions will be taken into account when developing the detailed design of the solar farm.

For the past year we have been and are continuing to carry out field surveys and desktop studies to understand the local ecology and design the solar farm with the aim to protect and enhance biodiversity. Protective buffers around the natural features like hedgerows, individual trees, woodland, ponds, and watercourses have been incorporated into the site design.

We propose to create a Wetland Wildlife Zone adjacent to the River Foulness to provide an area of undisturbed habitat, particularly for birds. To avoid impacts, horizontal directional drilling will be used to lay the cables under significant watercourses (currently identified as the River Ouse, River Derwent, and Featherbed Drain). Any disturbance of protected species and off-site biodiversity will be managed and prevented through various measures included within a Landscape and Ecology Management Plan, as well as through environmental management plans for each stage of the solar farm’s life (construction, operation and decommissioning).

Due to the combination of factors such as converting the land from arable agriculture into grassland under the solar panels, enhancement planting and setting aside buffers and Wetland Wildlife Zone, the solar farm will result in a biodiversity net gain which will likely be far greater than the statutory minimum of 10%. Other solar NSIPs have achieved over 70% biodiversity net gain, for example.

Buffer zones and screening planting have been integrated into the site layout to provide separation between the nearest properties and the solar farm.

Existing hedgerows will be retained to act as site boundaries, and where appropriate additional environmental screening will be provided through planting of native shrubs and trees.

Future climate conditions will be taken into account when developing the detailed design of the solar farm.

We propose to create a Wetland Wildlife Zone adjacent to the River Foulness to provide an area of undisturbed habitat, particularly for birds. To avoid impacts, horizontal directional drilling will be used to lay the cables under significant watercourses (currently identified as the River Ouse, River Derwent, and Featherbed Drain). Any disturbance of protected species and off-site biodiversity will be managed and prevented through various measures included within a Landscape and Ecology Management Plan, as well as through environmental management plans for each stage of the solar farm’s life (construction, operation and decommissioning).

Due to the combination of factors such as converting the land from arable agriculture into grassland under the solar panels, enhancement planting and setting aside buffers and Wetland Wildlife Zone, the solar farm will result in a biodiversity net gain which will likely be far greater than the statutory minimum of 10%. Other solar NSIPs have achieved over 70% biodiversity net gain, for example.

During the construction and the first few years of operation there will be significant effects on visual amenity at several viewpoints, until the proposed planting and screening measures are fully established.

Glint and glare will be minimised by using anti-reflective coating on the PV panels. Together with the screening planting glint and glare impacts are unlikely.

The soil beneath the solar panels does not need to be lifted to install the panels so the soil profile will not be disturbed. The physical footprint of the solar farm components which require foundations or hardstanding, such as field stations, grid connection substations and access tracks, makes up a small proportion of the solar farm area, which means the soil disturbance will be minimal.

During operation the land under the PV panels across the majority of the solar farm will be available for agriculture in the form of sheep grazing.

The change from arable agriculture to grassland is temporary as the land can be returned to arable farming upon decommissioning of the solar farm. The temporary shift from arable to grassland is predicted to result in positive changes to soil structure and soil carbon content. The change of agricultural land into wildlife habitat is likely to lead to significant benefits to ecology.

The land within cable corridors will be reinstated after construction and will return to its original condition and use

No solar farm infrastructure will be placed in the areas of highest flood risk, and the heights of PV panels and equipment foundations will be enough to avoid them being affected by flooding.

The solar farm itself will not alter the drainage and will not worsen the flood risk in the area.

To address this, the routes to be used and timings for deliveries and staff will be defined in a Construction Traffic Management Plan (CTMP) before construction begins, and this will be a requirement for construction staff. Minibus services will be set up to transport staff to the site helping to reduce vehicle trips on the surrounding highway network. The public right of way (PRoW) network will remain open during construction. Permissive paths will further enhance the current PRoW network during the operation of the solar farm.

As the operational solar farm requires little maintenance there will be limited traffic during operation. Permissive paths will further enhance the current PRoW network.

Noise modelling results suggest that the operational solar farm will not significantly change the noise baseline for the local residential receptors. This is achieved by locating the electrical equipment such as grid connection substations and field stations away from receptors.

Archaeological surveys are ongoing. The results of field surveys will identify the location of buried archaeological remains and allow the solar farm to be designed around them. Where avoiding archaeology is not possible, appropriate archaeological mitigation, such as excavation, will be undertaken to ensure remains are fully understood and recorded.