Light Valley Solar is proposed solar on land between Escrick, Monk Fryston, Hambleton, Chapel Haddlesey and South Milford. 

The project includes seven Solar Development Sites totalling approximately 900 hectares (ha), approximately 680 ha of which would be used to host solar panels and associated infrastructure and 220 ha that would be used for planting, landscaping and other ecological mitigation. A Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) would be located on up to 10.5 ha of land on Site 2. Additional land is also required to host the underground Cable Route Corridor (CRC) and Highway Improvement Areas (HIA), with the land returned to its previous condition once the cable has been laid and highway works completed.

The sites are numbered 1-4, and 6-8, due to Site 5 being removed following the first phase of consultation. The decision to remove Site 5 from the project was through environmentally-led design; following ongoing design work, assessments indicated a high level of flood risk, making this area unsuitable for the installation of solar panels. You can read more about this change here.

Due to the project’s size, it is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure project (NSIP). This means that the Project will submit its application to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), on behalf of the Secretary of State, who will ultimately decide whether to grant the project a Development Consent Order (DCO). 

Details about this can be found in the planning process section on this website: infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/application-process/the-process/