In the last few months, Sunnica has pressed ahead with its plans to build the largest solar farm in Europe in our area, despite the majority opposition of my constituents. I know that concern is widespread, and many fear the impact that this solar farm would have on their daily lives.
I have maintained my opposition to the project by sharing with both the Planning Inspectorate and Sunnica my concerns about the planned changes to the application and the way in which constituents have been consulted.
It is disappointing that Sunnica has not yet provided sufficient information about its new plans, and has not met the agreed deadline to produce relevant documents. This has made it impossible for my constituents to assess the impact of the proposed changes and for the Examining Authority to evaluate them in accordance with their planned timetable.
As a result, the Examining Authority announced on 28 July that the Examination will be deferred until after the summer - no earlier than 30 August - when it hopes Sunnica will be able to submit their change request in full. In the meantime, the full, revised Examination Timetable will be released as soon as possible.
Additionally, in the last couple of weeks, Matt Hancock MP and I wrote to Sunnica Ltd and Cambridgeshire County Council to register our concerns about the veracity of Sunnica's soil assessments and to establish whether additional tests can be conducted on the land to corroborate findings. We will continue to contest the use of productive farmland for the project.
