Sunnica solar farm row continues as Exning councillor speaks

Richard Rout, deputy cabinet member for major infrastructure projects at Suffolk County Council, slammed West Suffolk Council's decision to pull out of a four-council legal challenge against plans for Sunnica solar farm.

The challenge was backed by Suffolk County Council, West Suffolk Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and East Cambridgeshire District Council, but was abandoned after West Suffolk Council and Cambridgeshire District Council pulled out.

Cllr Rout previously said he was "deeply disappointed" and believed the move was "100% political." 

Cllr Richard Rout (Image: SCC)

However, Jon London, Liberal Democrat councillor for Exning and vice-chair of the development control committee at West Suffolk Council, said: "A judicial review on this scale is a very expensive process and is very unlikely to succeed, as it will only be successful if there is a legal error in the process of the grant planning.

"Even if a fault is found, it would probably just be corrected and then have planning granted anyway. This means that many thousands of pounds of public money would be wasted just for planning to go ahead anyway.

"The Conservatives had multiple opportunities in government to put a stop to Sunnica but chose to run away from the decision and cowardly pass the buck to the incoming Labour government."

Cllr Jon London (Image: Jon London)

The plans, which had caused protests in the area, had been deferred multiple times by the former Conservative government.

When Labour won the general election, new Secretary of Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, gave them the green light.

Cllr London continued: "I believe Sunnica is not the correct solution to invest in our green energy, but it is frankly glib for Mr Rout to suggest that it is the fault of the district council when the Conservative government had a lot more power to stop it.

“That being said, it is not incorrect for him to suggest that Labour councillors at West Suffolk District Council could be persuaded by their government to act against the interests of residents.

"Of course, this principle also applied to the Suffolk County Council when the Conservatives were in government.

"The benefit of being a Liberal Democrat councillor is that I’m given a lot more freedom to make up my own mind in the interest of residents, not my party." 

Sunnica protestors before the approval of the plans (Image: Newsquest)

In his view, more financial support should be provided by the government to allow people to install solar panels on their roofs and large buildings. 

He said: "Instead of having people struggling with fluctuating energy prices as they are at the moment, they would actually benefit.

"There should also be solar panels already installed on any new housing that is built." 

The Sunnica solar farm is set to be built across four sites which will be connected underground - one near Mildenhall and West Row, another near Freckenham and Worlington and two in East Cambridgeshire.