Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy (): My Noble Friend, the
Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero ( OBE), made the
following statement today:
This Statement concerns an application for development consent
made under the Planning Act 2008 by Ecotricity (Heck Fen) Limited
for the construction and operation of a solar photovoltaic
electricity generating station situated in Lincolnshire.
Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of
State must make a decision on an application within three months
of the receipt of the Examining Authority's report unless
exercising the power under section 107(3) of the Act to set a new
deadline. Where a new deadline is set, the Secretary of State
must make a Statement to Parliament to announce it.
The statutory deadline for the decision on the Heckington Fen
Solar Park application was 9 August 2024.
Ecotricity (Heck Fen) Limited has requested that the Secretary of
State extends the statutory deadline to allow time for further
negotiations with landowners and to ensure the necessary
permissions can be obtained. I have decided to allow a short
extension and to set a new deadline of no later than 27
September 2024 for deciding this application for these
reasons.
The decision to set the new deadline for this application is
without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse
development consent.
