Notice is hereby given that an application has been made by Longfield Solar Energy Farm Limited (company number 11618210) of registered office Alexander House, 1 Mandarin Road, Rainton Bridge Business Park, Houghton Le Spring, Sunderland, England, DH4 5RA (the “Applicant”) to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to make a non-material change to the Longfield Solar Farm Order 2023 (as corrected by the Longfield Solar Farm (Correction) Order 2023) (the “Order”) under the Planning Act 2008 (the “NMC Application”).

The Order includes provision authorising the construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of a solar photovoltaic electricity generating facility and Battery Storage Energy System with a total capacity exceeding 50MW and associated infrastructure (the “Scheme”). Longfield seeks to make four non-material changes (the “NMCs”) to the Order.

Change 1 – amending Work No. 4A of Schedule 1 of the Order to facilitate the installation of a dual circuit

Work No. 4A of Schedule 1 of the Order authorises, at paragraph (i), works including the installation of one 400 kilovolt cable circuit connecting Work No. 3 (the new onsite substation) to Work No. 5 (the extension to the existing substation).

For resilience purposes, Longfield is seeking to install a second 400 kilovolt cable circuit as part of these works. Longfield is therefore proposing to amend the description of Work No. 4A of Schedule 1 of the Order to authorise this dualling.

Change 2 – amending Article 6 of the Order to modify the Hedgerows Regulations 1997

Article 6 of the Order identifies extant legislation that is authorised to be modified or disapplied by virtue of the Order being made.

However, the list of legislation in Article 6 of the Order does not include the standard modification of the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 in relation to the carrying out of development for the Scheme. This results in a requirement for Longfield to submit a Hedgerow Removal Notice under the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 every time that any hedgerow needs to be removed, including those already identified and assessed in Schedule 12 of the Order. This is an onerous and complex process that restricts the flexibility of the detailed design of the Scheme and poses a risk to the timing of phases of the Scheme due to determination timescales, and was clearly not the intention of the drafting of the Order. Longfield notes that this amendment will not result in uncontrolled hedgerow removal, as this continues to be controlled by the corresponding and relevant parts of the Order – for example, the vegetation removal plan, which is a certified document under Schedule 13 of the Order.

Longfield is therefore proposing to amend Article 6 of the Order to include the modification of the Hedgerows Regulations 1997. This approach has been consented in recent solar DCOs, including the Oaklands Farm Solar Park Order 2025.

Change 3 – amending Requirement 9 of Schedule 2 of the Order to require one submission of the BNG Strategy

Requirement 9 of Schedule 2 of the Order requires Longfield to submit (for approval by the relevant planning authority) a landscape and ecological management plan (“LEMP”) for each phase of the Scheme. As currently written in the Order, each LEMP requires the submission of a Biodiversity Net Gain (“BNG”) Strategy to detail how the Scheme is achieving the minimum 87% BNG during the operation of the Scheme.

However, a targeted LEMP has been submitted for various permitted preliminary works (including vegetation removal) without containing a BNG Strategy, as information regarding BNG was not available at the time of the submission of that LEMP (as the landscape design for the Scheme had not yet been developed, nor did it form part of the works to which that LEMP related). Therefore, Requirement 9 of Schedule 2 of the Order has only partially been discharged in relation to that LEMP, which represents an inefficient process.

Longfield is therefore proposing to amend Requirement 9 of Schedule 2 of the Order to alter the approach such that only one site-wide BNG Strategy is required to be submitted as part of the site-wide LEMP for the Scheme’s main site construction works (which are the works that give rise to BNG considerations).

Change 4 – amending Article 6(4) of the Order to address interactions with other planning applications

There are four small areas of overlap between the Order and two adjacent planning permissions relating to the extraction of minerals at Bulls Lodge Quarry (i.e. in proximity to the existing substation). The overlaps are de minimis and neither the Order nor the other planning permissions are prejudiced from ongoing implementation.

However, for the sake of clarity and good order, Longfield is proposing to amend Article 6(4) of the Order to expressly provide for these overlaps to occur. Longfield notes that Article 6(4), as currently written in the Order, already addresses one of the areas of overlap, which lies directly to the north of the existing substation. The proposed change is to ensure that all of the overlaps are covered by Article 6(4), making the Order explicit in this regard whilst continuing to not prejudice the ongoing implementation of the Order and the other planning permissions.

Overall

The NMCs proposed to the Order by Longfield are necessary for the reasons set out above. None of the NMCs will give rise to any materially new or materially different environmental effects to those originally assessed as part of the application for the Order, nor would they require additional compulsory acquisition of land, nor would they have new or different effects on local residents or business or any additional implications in respect of habitats regulation assessment; therefore, Longfield considers that the proposed changes are non-material in nature.

A copy of the NMC Application and its accompanying documents are available for inspection, free of charge, via the Planning Inspectorate’s website at the below address until at least the end of the consultation period referred to below:

Planning Inspectorate website (documents tab):

https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010118/documents

If you require a hard copy of the NMC Application and its accompanying documents (for example because you do not have access to a computer and are unable to view the documents on PINS' website), you can request hard copies by contacting the Applicant at info@longfieldsolarfarm.co.uk or on 0800 0194 576. Each hard copy is available at the cost of £20 per copy.

Any representation about the NMC Application must be made by email to:

LongfieldSolarFarm@planninginspectorate.gov.uk, or in writing to:

National Infrastructure Planning, the Planning Inspectorate, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Bristol, BS1 6PN.

Please quote reference EN010118 on any correspondence. Consultation responses will be published on the relevant project page of the National Infrastructure Planning website.

Please note that representations must be received by the Planning Inspectorate by 11.59pm on 22 December 2025.

LONGFIELD SOLAR ENERGY FARM LIMITED

13 November 2025