Aukera’s Kilnside Energy Park would create ‘expanse of solar panels’ north of Stamford

Residents have been angered ‘to the verge of tears’ over a proposed solar and energy storage facility that could take up a huge area of countryside.

Kilnside Energy Park would take up 950 hectares (2,400 acres) of land north-west of Great Casterton if energy company Aukera gets its plans approved.

It held two meetings for residents last week - one in Exton Village Hall and the other in Great Casterton Church Hall.

In anticipation, some residents held a private meeting beforehand, in Pickworth.

Pip Kirby, who chairs Pickworth Parish Meeting, attended and said: “It was clear that everyone there was strongly opposed in principle to the development, some angry, some to the point of being tearful.

“Most of us appreciate that speaking with Aukera’s people at meetings has no value in trying to stop the project. They are employed to develop a project which can receive Government approval and be profitable for their investors, and part of these steps to approval includes trying to ameliorate, and being seen to ameliorate, the negative impacts on residents and the community.

“This is a bit like being told you're going to have a leg amputated, like it or not, but you can have the least bad-looking prosthesis available and a pretty shoe for the other foot.”

Pip said residents’ best approach is to comment directly to the Government when Aukera’s plans are submitted in February next year. The Government will determine the outcome of the application through a planning inquiry, because the solar plant would have an output of more than 50 megawatts. A similar inquiry was held for the Mallard Pass solar plant, which was approved in July 2024 and will straddle the Rutland and Lincolnshire border at Essendine.

A second approach for residents, according to Pip, is to approach the landowners.

“To this end, one landowner has now withdrawn a tranche of land around Pickworth itself, to the north, which otherwise would have meant solar panels totally surrounding the village,” said Pip.

Another landowner involved is the Cecil Estate Family Trust.

Having attended the subsequent meeting in Exton on Wednesday last week (October 15), Pip felt Aukera took ‘a professional approach towards best community relations’ but ‘had few details to add to the initial rough plan’.

He added: “It is too early to negotiate on specific details like visual impact or noise or talk about community benefit compensation.”

Miles Williamson-Noble, who chairs the Stop Stamford Solar City action group, attended the meeting in Great Casterton on Thursday last week.

He said one of the concerns voiced by residents was the ‘sheer scale’ of the proposed development, and its ‘unsettling proximity’ to Mallard Pass.

He added: “If sanctioned, this would effectively encase the northern edge of Stamford in an unbroken expanse of reflective panels - a vast sea of glass.”

Other concerns raised were that the panels may be sourced from China, where there are ethical issues over potential forced labour, and disruption to wildlife due to new fencing.

A spokesperson for Kilnside Energy Park said: “We ran a series of workshops last week to seek the early input of local stakeholders into the design process for Kilnside Energy Park. This included two sessions for our nearest neighbours, to get their views on our emerging masterplan before sharing it with the wider public.

“This approach reflects good practice as encouraged by the planning inspectorate, which recommends early, meaningful engagement to help shape proposals and build trust with affected communities.

“We will be returning to the area in early 2026 for a formal, statutory consultation for Kilnside, when we will share more detailed proposals for the site with a wide audience.

“This will include in-person exhibition events in multiple locations, direct engagement meetings and digital consultation materials. We look forward to discussing the project and gathering feedback from local people as the design process continues.

“Our designs remain at an early stage, and we would not make any decisions on procurement – for instance, the sourcing of solar panels – until much later in the process.

“However, we are actively strengthening our existing procurement process to make every effort to prevent any negative impact on people and the environment. Aukera has signed on to Solar Energy UK’s Industry Supply Chain Statement, which is designed to improve transparency and sustainability in supply chains in the solar industry.

“We will also submit an outline supply chain plan, including commitments on ethical procurement, as part of our planning application.

“We will be proposing a significant biodiversity net gain as part of our design for Kilnside Energy Park, in line with the positive legacy seen across many solar projects delivered in recent years. The site will be thoughtfully designed to support and enhance local wildlife, with measures such as new wildlife corridors to connect key habitats, and carefully planned planting schemes to boost biodiversity.

“While we are not at the detailed design stage yet, the team will be exploring the incorporation of wildlife-friendly fencing and gates to maintain natural mammal movement, which is common across solar farm projects. This can include badger gates, deer and mammal gates, and intentional openings for smaller animals such as rabbits, hedgehogs and voles.

We’re committed to working collaboratively with the community, and will be seeking feedback on these proposals as part of our statutory consultation.

“If consented, Kilnside Energy Park would be capable of generating a significant amount of clean, domestically produced energy, helping to decarbonise our electricity supply and reduce our reliance on foreign fossil fuels. When we return for our statutory consultation in 2026, we will be seeking residents’ input on a significant community benefit package, which would deliver tangible benefits to the local area. We welcome ideas regarding how the package would work and what any funds could be used for.”

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