WELCOME TO FELSTED

Report of proceedings at the High Court in the Strand this afternoon to hear the arguments advanced in support/opposition to the continuation of the Injunction obtained by UDC in the terms as granted last week.

UDC were represented by an experienced barrister who has previoulsy dealt with many GAT cases.

UDC were represented by a Senior Enforcement Officer whose affidavit evidence had been used as the basis for the Injunction application. An Officer from Democratic Services was also in attendance.

The Defendants were represented by a solicitor (who was required to obtain leave to appear) – only instructed this morning by the Essex GAT representative who was also present.

There were 5 representatives of the Defendants present in Court.

It was said that there are 14 families interested in the site and their solicitor said that as her clients were illiterate and so numerous, while she was agreeable for the injunction to be continued she needed to be allowed time to gather her evidence in rebuttal for which a period of a minimum of 6-8 weeks was required.

UDC Counsel said that there was no evidence of “occupation” which the Judge noted. Opposing solicitor said her instructions were that “there are people in occupation”. The Judge observed she had seen no evidence of that and said she was willing to continue the injunction on that basis and to allow more time for defendants’ evidence but in the expectation that matters could be argued out at the next hearing without need for a further adjournment. The Judge wanted the matter to come back as soon as possible.

The first Defendant named is the person who applied for retrospective planning permission and it was not clear if he is the owner of the land. It does not appear that the application has been validated yet.

After a brief adjournment to allow Judge to consider the Defendants’ evidence (which apparently raises welfare needs and human rights) which was sent this morning,  the Judge has ordered that the Injunction now continues in place until a new hearing date of 18 June (one day allowed).

The defendants are required to serve their evidence no later than 1630 Wednesday 27 May, UDC evidence to be served in reply by 10 June, court bundles filed by 3 days before and written Skeleton arguments to be served 2 days before the hearing date fixed.

The Judge had prepared a judgment in advance which she read out justifying the legal principles for continuing an injunction of this type (which it must be recalled is discretionary and is not “dished out” or maintained automatically) including giving the following reasoning:

* it raised a serious issue to be tried

* prima facie there is change of use (development with hard core and caravans for habitation)

* development continued after stop notice

* it causes real harm in the area

* damages are not an adequate remedy – ie public interest

* no evidence of occupation when injunction was applied for

An Order is being prepared today to this effect and the Judge wanted it served by e mail on the defendants solicitor and on the field itself.

A Planning Application has been submitted for the “Hedgehog Grove Solar Farm” that was originally
pursued as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), meaning that the final decision on whether permission for development was approved would be made the Secretary of State on behalf of the
Government, but this was subsequently withdrawn.

However, following changes made by the Government in December 2025 under the Planning and
Infrastructure Act 2025, there is now no specific “maximum” power output that a solar farm is legally
prohibited from exceeding; rather, the Act redefines the regulatory pathways for projects of varying scales.
The most significant change introduced by the Act and its associated secondary legislation is that the act
raises the capacity limit for solar farms that can be decided by local planning authorities under conventional Planning Applications from 50 MW to 150 MW. This means that solar farms can now produce up to 150 MW of power while remaining under the local planning regime, in our case, that is via Uttlesford District Council (UDC).

Felsted residents are able to comment to UDC on the application now it is formally submitted. No doubt
some residents may choose to support the application, and some will object.

The Neighbour Consultation Expiry Date is……….…Saturday 16 May 2026

Details of the application (and the opportunity for those residents who wish to comment) can be found at:
https://publicaccess.uttlesford.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=simple&searchType=Application
By entering the application reference number UTT/26/0445/FUL

Felsted Parish Council has objected because we have already supported TWO solar farms within Felsted
Parish, one covering 38 acres (shown in red on the map below) which has been fully operational since
2014 and the other covering 282 acres (shown in blue on the map below), which received full planning
approval from UDC in 2023 but is yet to be constructed. Both located near Willows Green.

Our concern is the scale of the proposal and the cumulative impact of the existing approved 320 acres plus the proposed additional 675 acres (shown in yellow on the map below) which would bring the total
combined area of Felsted under “Solar” to circa 1,000 acres or 405 hectares, seriously impacting our rural
environment and displacing wildlife etc. In addition, the majority of the impacted land, according to the
Natural England – Agricultural Land Classification map for the Eastern Region (ALC008) would be on land
classified as “Grade 2” i.e. “Very Good” BMV (Best and Most Versatile) or Grade 3a “Good” agricultural
land.

The use of almost 1,000 acres of what is classified as BMV Grade 2 “Very Good” or Grade 3a “Good” land
is considered unacceptable and unsustainable.

Since our Parish Council meeting on Wednesday 6th of May, Felsted Parish Council has been in regular contact with UDC Councillors and officers, as well as the Essex Police.

We hope to be able to arrange a meeting with the police and UDC Enforcement officers early next week.  We will keep you informed with a time and place as soon as we receive confirmation on availability.

We have also received very helpful information from UDC which we summarise below, and which we hope addresses parishioners’ concerns about the process that has been followed.

UDC have clarified why officers were unable to attend our parish council meeting on Wednesday.

Officers were progressing formal legal action with access to court and serving of court papers. This required officers being at their desks, finalising witness statements. This could not be achieved either by standing on site or attending our meeting. Due to the legal nature of proceedings, UDC could not divulge progress, tactics, or intentions on Wednesday evening.

UDC wants to reassure residents that, ‘contrary to the totally unfair and unfounded criticism of Uttlesford Officers’ of lack of action on this matter, officers have not been sitting on their hands!

On Thursday 7th, bailiffs acting on the Council’s behalf served papers of a temporary Injunction on the owners/occupiers of the Willows Green site, with a court date for next week for its confirmation. The key officer elements of this work were being progressed early on Wednesday evening. This was critical and time sensitive work and that’s why no UDC officer was able to join us at the parish council meeting.

The Parish Council and UDC are equally horrified by the magnitude of the activities in Willows Green and are united with the community across the parish in a shared objective of vigorously pursuing a legal resolution as quickly as possible.

We are aware that UDC are also acting on intelligence about other potential sites in the area, but again, to be ultimately legally successful UDC must act on proper evidence.

Finally, the sheer volume of referrals to UDC, substantially distracted UDC and threatened to delay action.  No doubt born out of anger and frustration, some of the ‘referrals’ were unpleasant and abusive.  That is demotivating and needs to stop!

Felsted Parish Council