May 2025 Draft Minutes
DRAFT MINUTES of the Annual Parish Meeting of Brant Broughton & Stragglethorpe Parish Council held at 6 pm on Thursday 15th May 2025 at the Village Hall, Brant Broughton.
PRESENT: Cllrs M George (in the Chair), Anne Early, Robert Hollingworth and Keith Salmon.
Three representatives from Leoda Solar Farm and 34 members of the public.
Dr Caroline Johnson MP and her assistant arrived at 7 pm as did D/C L Hagues.
Apologies had been received from Cllrs J Salmon and Swain.
It was unanimously resolved to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 11th April 2024.
The Chair introduced the Councillors and set out the format for the meeting.
The Leoda representatives then introduced themselves:
Alexander - Head of planning
Martin - Head of land
Neil - Consultant for the EIA
There was an early non-statutory consultation with the public and not all aspects of the project were available yet. The climate crisis means that the Government are promoting renewable energy including solar farms. To achieve the targets set by the Government this means using brownfield sites, greenfield sites and roofs. The Leoda Solar Farm is a National Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and is therefore led by the Planning Act. The second consultation that will be carried out is a statutory consultation. The format is first application goes to the Planning Inspectorate, there is then a full examination and finally the Secretary of State makes a decision. This project is NOT engineering led but is landscape led. They can implement forests, cycleways etc. They will not rip up hedgerows or public rights of way and will minimise impact on the landscape.
All documents are online and there will be a community benefit fund which goes to a charity in charge of this type of Fund. They cannot operate without battery storage so that if the application for battery storage at Navenby fails then they will look elsewhere. Battery storage is very dangerous if it catches fire and could cause evacuation but regulations are increasing rapidly to mitigate this. Food security is not affected “as a whole” over the country. As solar panels are 1 metre off the ground there is not likely to be any impact on the River Brant so as to cause flooding. Solar panels are moveable if necessary.
The longevity of solar panels is about 40 years and if technology improves it is unlikely Leoda would change them but may stagger the phasing out over a few years. Site selection was explained. There has to be a de-commissioning plan as part of their planning application.
Dr Caroline Johnson then spoke about her debate in the House today regarding expansive solar farms. She is not against solar energy but is concerned about the impact of industrial size solar farms as they will ruin the countryside. Farmland is the wrong place and she will do all she can to stop large solar farms. Ed Miliband as Secretary of State has passed all the applications so far but some Labour MPs are fighting back. Land grading is being looked at in the new Bill and National Policy Statements are being reviewed by Labour – the consultation on this ends this month. The cumulative effect is being looked at and Dr Johnson’s opinion is that Springwell and Fosse Green will go through (as they are further ahead in the process) but she is not sure about Leoda.
She was asked about the A17 infrastructure and it being extended to a dual carriageway and she said that if that is the general choice of constituents she will look into it.
Meeting closed at 7.35 pm.