Kingsway Solar
Consultation Feedback Form
31 October – 12 December 2024

Downing Renewable Developments (DRD) are consulting on Kingsway Solar – a proposed solar farm and battery storage project located on parcels of land around the areas of Balsham, West Wratting, Weston Colville, and Weston Green in Cambridgeshire. Kingsway Solar would have the potential to supply around 500 Megawatts (MW) of electricity to the National Grid and will also include an approximate 14km Grid Connection to National Grid’s planned Burwell substation, to be located to the south of the existing substation at Burwell.

The first stage of our consultation for Kingsway Solar (non-statutory consultation) will open from 31 October to 12 December 2024. Your comments will help us to develop our proposals in more detail and refine our project design ahead of our second and final stage of consultation (statutory consultation).

As part of the consultation, we are also seeking your views on how DRD can best support local initiatives and provide benefits to the community through the development of Kingsway Solar.

To help inform your response, we have published a consultation newsletter, available on the Kingsway Solar website. We are also holding in person consultation events where project specialists will be on hand to answer questions and address any concerns you may have regarding the Scheme.

How to respond to our consultation

You can provide feedback by:

  • Completing this feedback form
  • Completing a hard copy of the feedback form and returning it to FREEPOST DOWNING KINGSWAY
  • Submitting your comments or completed feedback form by email to enquiries@kingswaysolar.co.uk

A copy of our feedback form, as well as other consultation documents, are available on our website www.kingswaysolarfarm.co.uk.

If you wish to receive paper copies of these documents or need them in another format, please get in touch by freephone on 0800 012 9881 or by email at enquiries@kingswaysolar.co.uk.

Please submit your response by 23:59pm on 12 December.

Views on solar

1. What are your views on the development of solar farms as part of the UK’s renewable energy transition and commitment to reaching net zero targets?






Please explain why.

2. What are your views of the development of solar farms located in the Cambridgeshire area?






Please explain why.

Site layout

3. Which areas of the Scheme do your comments relate to? Please refer to the map provided on pages 4 and 5 in the newsletter.





We are in the early stages of developing our proposals. We are seeking your feedback to further develop and refine our plans. Do you have any comments on the potential layout for the land parcel(s) you have selected? This could be in regard to matters such as panel location, environmental considerations, or use of land.

Connection corridor

The electricity generated by Kingsway Solar needs to be connected to the national grid. The planned Grid Connection for Kingsway Solar is National Grid’s proposed Burwell Substation, to be located to the south of the existing substation at Burwell. Our proposal currently assumes that we will connect to the grid via an overhead line. This would likely be lattice towers carrying 400 kilovolt (kV) lines.

This preferred grid connection corridor is not yet confirmed and will be determined following an ongoing study of connection routes.

4. Are there any specific local environmental constraints, issues, or concerns that you would like to make us aware of that require consideration for the proposed connection to the national grid?

The local environment and landscape

We will be developing a Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) that will provide an initial appraisal of the Scheme’s potential impacts and opportunities for the environment.

5a. What environmental issues relating to the proposals are most important to you? Please tick your top three.













5b. Please provide any further comments on why these topics are most important to you.

Community Benefits

DRD is committed to making a positive contribution in Cambridgeshire and beyond. Our consultation is important in helping us to understand what local projects or initiatives could be supported as part of the development of the Scheme.

6. Do you have any suggestions on what community benefits packages or initiatives can be supported or introduced in the local area and how these could be managed?

Our consultation

Thank you for taking the time to share your views on Kingsway Solar.

7. In what capacity are your responding to this consultation?






8. Please rate the information we have presented in terms of how clearly it was presented and how easy it was to understand.







9. Do you have any further comments about our consultation process or anything we can improve about our consultation?

About you

You do not have to supply personal details in your response to our consultation. However, this will help us to understand who has attended our consultation and allow us to keep you updated on Kingsway Solar.

A summary of the feedback received as part of this consultation may be included within our Consultation Report, however, no personal information will be shared.

The answers you provide to this question are defined as ‘special category data’. If you agree to provide Equality and Diversity information, you can withdraw your permission at any time.

First name

Surname

Organisation (if applicable)

Postcode

Email

What is your gender?





What is your age?









Data privacy notice

DRD is committed to protecting your personal information. Whenever you provide such information, we are legally obliged to use it in line with all applicable laws concerning the protection of personal data, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

How will DRD use the information you submit?

We will use your responses for a number of purposes, including:

  • in the analysis of the feedback to the non-statutory consultation;
  • to produce a Consultation Report, based on our analysis of responses (individuals will not be identified in the Report);
  • to write to you with updates about the results of the consultation and other developments; and
  • to keep up-to-date records of our communications with individuals and organisations.

Any personal information you include in this form will be handled and used by (or made available to) the following recipients to record, analyse and report on the feedback we receive:

  • DRD and its consultants working on Kingsway Solar, for the purposes of work relating to Kingsway Solar only;
  • the Planning Inspectorate (which will consider our application for development consent – any details published as part of this process will be anonymised)
  • the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (who will make the decision on our application); and
  • our legal advisers.

What rights do I have over my personal data?

Under the terms of the UK GDPR, you have certain rights over how your personal data is retained and used by Downing Renewable Developments. For more information, see our full data privacy statement https://www.downing.co.uk/legals/privacy-and-cookie-policy.