Sunnica group withdraws legal action over Suffolk solar farm

The plans for the controversial Sunnica solar farm, to be built on land spanning the two counties, were approved in July by the new Energy Secretary Ed Miliband - a decision which had been put off several times by the previous Conservative government. 

The 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 then on two other sites in East Cambridgeshire, close to Newmarket.

Now, Dr Catherine Judkins, chairman of Say No To Sunnica, has revealed the campaign group has had to pull out of its legal action against the decision. 

"Sadly, the councils had to withdraw their legal action due to possible cost exposure and, unfortunately, the Say No to Sunnica community group were forced to do the same," she said. 

Ed Miliband, Energy Secretary (Image: Peter Byrne)

She continued: "Withdrawing Say No to Sunnica's legal challenge - knowing that we had a legal case, knowing that the expert examiners had agreed with nearly all of our supporter’s well-evidenced concerns about the damage this scheme would cause, and knowing how close this scheme came to being rejected – was an incredibly tough decision.

“And a stark reminder of how the current Nationally Significant Infrastucture Projects planning system is so heavily weighted in favour of developers, and decisions are seemingly at the mercy of one person’s political ideology." 

She urged residents to continue supporting the Say No to Sunnica campaign, despite the end of the legal action. 

"The fight to oppose this damaging, poor-quality scheme is not over," she said.

"We are aware of at least one other legal challenge still ongoing, which could well lead to a rethink.

"There is simply no need to damage the environment or sacrifice vast areas of high-quality food producing land while striving for net zero and energy security."