Little Heath Lane Solar – our statement for the planning appeal Inquiry

The planning appeal Inquiry on a proposed solar farm at Little Heath Lane near Berkhamsted in Dacorum Borough will be held in August, and we will be there.

The Planning Inspectorate will be conducting the Inquiry, which is scheduled for 1^st – 3^rd August and 15^th – 16^th August. The Inquiry will start at 10 AM each day at Dacorum Borough Council’s offices at The Forum, Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead HP1 1DN.

Members of the public are welcome to attend and participate. Further guidance on how to do this is on the Dacorum website.

Our statement

We have now submitted our formal Statement as an Interested Party in the Inquiry.

Read our statement

This follows our earlier submittal when the promoter, Energi Generation, submitted the original planning application in 2022.  Dacorum refused permission, and Energi has now appealed.

At the Inquiry the Planning Inspector will hear evidence, and we expect a final decision will follow later this year.

To be clear, we are all for renewable energy, but we want to see solar panels on all suitable and available rooftops, not on protected designated land such as this site –a visually prominent open hillside, in the Green Belt, adjacent to the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

There are some 617,000 acres of suitable rooftop space available for solar energy generation, according to Solar UK, the solar industry’s own trade body. But progress in utilising this untapped space is slow and instead we are seeing ever more proposals for ground mounted solar installations in inappropriate countryside locations.

Read more about our campaign for rooftop solar and please sign our petition.