Suffolk: Richard Rout on collapse of Sunnica legal challenge

At Suffolk County Council, alongside colleagues at East Cambridgeshire District Council, we were determined to continue to challenge the new Labour government’s decision to approve the scheme.

However, at the eleventh hour, West Suffolk Council and Cambridgeshire County Council withdrew their support.

By withdrawing, they made our challenge unviable for two reasons. First, rather than the cost being split four ways it would have to be split two ways.

A protest over Sunnica, including former West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock (Image: Newsquest)

This made it too expensive for East Cambridgeshire, who are a very small district council. We looked at continuing the challenge alone but received legal advice that without a district council being party to the proceedings, it was very unlikely to be heard by a court.

This was because it is the district councils who were most severely impacted by the issue of fair costs to local councils that formed the basis of our challenge. In short, by pulling out of our legal action, West Suffolk District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council killed the challenge by making it too expensive and undermining its credibility.

Even more shockingly, West Suffolk Council announced on BBC Radio Suffolk that their Council, run by a “Progressive Alliance” of Labour Party and Independent councillors alongside a solitary Lib Dem and Green, were no longer opposed to this vast scheme that will take over 2,000 acres of land out of food production.

Local communities in the area are rightly shocked. This complete reversal of position was not taken or voted on in public and was instead, presumably, decided behind closed doors.

That the Labour Party chose to abandon an area of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire where they have no representation is, perhaps, not a surprise but the Independent councillors who form part of the ruling group at West Suffolk and represent the villages of Freckenham, Worlington, Red Lodge, and indeed the town of Mildenhall, should hang their collective heads in shame.

The Sunnica project was green-lit by the new Labour government (Image: Newsquest)

To torpedo our legal challenge was bad enough but to be part of a Council administration that does not oppose this vast solar scheme, which in all our years dealing with big energy projects is the worst we’ve ever seen, represents a total betrayal of their voting public. They have shown their true colours and bowed their heads to their Labour Party masters.

Why was our legal challenge so important? It was on the issue of who should foot the bill for dealing with all the complex planning conditions attached to the project.

In his hastily arrived at decision to approve the scheme, which took just three days, the new Labour Secretary of State, Ed Miliband, not only approved the Sunnica scheme against the advice of the independent Planning Inspectorate, he failed to address the subject of local authority costs.

As a result, the inadequate proposals from Sunnica stand and local councils, particularly district councils, will be left massively out of pocket. In such a situation it is left to local taxpayers, like you and I, to pick up the tab. At Suffolk County Council, we think this is unfair and that developers, who stand to make a huge amount

of money out of schemes like this, should cough up and not shortchange local residents who are already distraught that the project is proceeding.

We’ve seen from the leadership at West Suffolk Council, a suggestion that we ask Sunnica nicely for more money and lobby government.

We’ve been doing both these things for years and let’s not forget this is a developer that has repeatedly come up short of our expectations. In deciding that local taxpayers should foot the bill, Ed Miliband – and his supporters on West Suffolk Council – have set a worrying precedent.

The Sunnica project is just the beginning in a tidal wave of solar that could arrive in Suffolk. There are many thousands of acres, which make Sunnica pale into insignificance, with connection offers at Yaxley and similarly sized schemes with offers near Friston and Hadleigh.

As I have repeatedly said over the last six years, if we are told Suffolk must host all these energy schemes, then it must receive a fair deal. I said this while there was a Conservative government and will continue to say it while there’s a Labour government. Unlike councils elsewhere in the county, we will continue to stand four-square behind our communities whoever is in power.