Low Carbon set to consult on emerging proposals for Gate Burton Energy Park in the new year

Tue Dec 21 2021

Initial stage of public consultation will run from 11 January to 18 February 2022

• Initial stage of public consultation will run from 11 January to 18 February 2022
• Consultation postcard will be mailed to over 8,000 local homes with information on how the community can find out more and take part
• People encouraged to register online to receive updates and details of the consultation on Gate Burton Energy Park

Low Carbon has confirmed it will be holding an initial stage of public consultation in the New Year to seek views on its emerging proposals to build a new solar and energy storage park on a site near Gate Burton, Lincolnshire.

The consultation will run from 11 January to 18 February 2022. During this time local communities and interested parties are invited to review early-stage proposals for the renewable energy development and provide feedback to enable Low Carbon to understand concerns and identify any potential local impacts.

The consultation will also invite people to suggest initiatives they would like the developer to explore to help facilitate or directly deliver wider benefits to the community and/or meet local needs.

Mike Rutgers, Development Director at Low Carbon said: “While we are still at an early stage in developing our proposals for Gate Burton Energy Park, this initial consultation is focused on giving local communities and those interested in the project the opportunity to find out more about Low Carbon and our emerging proposals for the project so they can tell us what they think. We want to deliver this project responsibly and we are committed to ensuring we strike a balance between the potential environmental, social and economic impacts the final scheme may have with meeting the country’s future energy needs. Early engagement with the local community forms a critical element in ensuring we achieve this.”

The extent of the land available to deliver the Gate Burton Energy Park is contained within one site, located in the West Lindsay District near Gate Burton, Knaith Park and Willingham-by-Stow. The energy park would connect into the national grid at the existing substation at Cottam Power Station in Nottinghamshire.

With an anticipated generation capacity of 500 megawatts (MW) of electricity, the scheme could provide enough clean energy to power over 160,000 homes and avoid more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. The amount of renewable electricity Gate Burton Energy Park could generate means that it is regarded as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP).

It will require a Development Consent Order (DCO) application to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. Effective consultation and engagement with all interested parties including local communities, authorities and interested organisations is central to the planning process for NSIPs.

Ultimately, consent will be determined by the Secretary of State at the department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

“It’s really important to us that as many people as possible take part in the consultation process”, Rutgers continues. “We want to understand people’s views so we can learn from what they’re telling us to help refine our proposals and make informed decisions as we evolve our plans for the detailed design of the site and how we deliver the electrical connection for it into the existing National Grid substation at Cottam Power Station.”

All feedback received during this first stage of consultation, together with the findings from the environmental and technical studies, will be used to refine and shape the proposals for Gate Burton Energy Park. A further stage of consultation will then be carried out so people have the opportunity to comment on the detailed plans for the site and its connection into Cottam Power Station.

Taking part in the public consultation

Low Carbon is currently planning to hold a series of in-person and virtual events as part of the consultation process. However, given growing concerns about the increasing cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, the format of these events will be reviewed in the context of prevailing circumstances and Government guidance on social distancing requirements.

Details of the final consultation programme and the information being consulted on will be made available when the consultation launches. Postcards will be mailed to over 8,000 homes in the area surrounding the site to advise people on where more information can be found and how they can take part.

People are encouraged to register their details on the Gate Burton Energy Park website www.gateburtonenergypark.co.uk to ensure they get updates about the consultation when it becomes available. The website will also be updated to enable people to find out more about what is being consulted on and take part online when the consultation launches on 11 January 2022.

For any other enquiries, the project team can be reached using any of the following methods:

• Freephone: 0800 860 6259
• Email: info@gateburtonenergypark.co.uk
• Post: FREEPOST GATE BURTON ENERGY PARK

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