Solar farm consultation leaves residents ‘disillusioned’, councillor warns
Residents have been left feeling “disillusioned” with consultation on a major solar farm proposed in South Yorkshire, a councillor has warned
In a report to its planning board, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council officers said they had received “substantial feedback” from communities about the Whitestone Solar Farm project, with complaints ranging from poor communication to a lack of clear information about the project.
Issues raised included claims that consultation lacked transparency, with some residents saying they were unaware events were taking place.
Others reported that leaflets were mistaken for junk mail or contained incorrect Freepost addresses, raising concerns about whether responses were received.
There were also complaints that only a small number of drop-in sessions were held across a large area, with events poorly advertised and offering limited opportunity for meaningful engagement.
Councillor Paul Thorp, who represents the Sitwell Ward, told a meeting of the council’s planning board on March 19 that residents had become ‘disillusioned’ with the consultation process.
“When they did the first non statutory consultation, they went in the evening. Now that they came to the statutory one, as it’s getting closer, it was literally daytime only. Are you really telling me that they could have put it in from midnight to five in the morning, and that would have been adequate, because that’s how it feels to anybody who’s working.
“So many people are just so disillusioned with the entire process, because they’re just isolated out of it.”
Residents and councillors also raised concerns to the council about unclear maps and ‘hard-to-read materials’ including the location of infrastructure such as cable routes and substations, according to the report.
The council said the consultation period was too short for residents to review extensive technical documents, and that no information had been provided on a community benefit fund.
Emma Ottewell, RMBC’s development manager, said concerns about a lack of information at consultation events had been formally raised in the council’s response to the developer, after residents reported that questions could not be properly answered.
She said a letter had been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate from the council, which has the power to require further consultation if it considers the process inadequate.
Despite the concerns, council officers in the report said most statutory consultation requirements appear to have been met.
However, they warned the process cannot yet be considered complete due to issues with notifying some landowners.
The developer has made changes to the scheme following feedback, including reducing the proposed solar development areas, particularly near homes and villages.