Ox-eye daisies underneath a solar farm. Image: John Feltwell

Crowhurst community solar farm secures planning permission

A community-owned solar project in nearby Crowhurst will help tackle fuel poverty while creating a highly biodiverse nature area. Energise Sussex Coast’s Gabriel Carlyle reports.

Crowhurst’s proposed community-owned solar farm, has been granted planning permission by Rother District Council in East Sussex.

The solar farm will have a capacity of 5MW, and will be sited on 12 hectares of poor quality agricultural land (Grade 4) off Swainham Lane, Crowhurst. The project, managed by Energise Sussex Coast (ESC), a not-for-profit community benefit society, and supported by Crowhurst Parish Council, includes detailed plans to transform the land into wildlife rich meadows.

Now that planning permission has been granted, Crowhurst’s community solar farm project team will move to looking for investors and support the setting up of a community interest company (CIC) or similar not-for-profit organisation, in partnership with local residents. The aim being to generate future revenue for Crowhurst to address local energy needs and support local community projects.

Commenting on the planning decision, Cllr Geoff Thomas, chair of Crowhurst Parish Council said: ‘This partnership initiative with ESC began in 2021. Following village consultation events, including those from Swainham Lane, the planning application was submitted by ESC in April 2023. It has been a long process to get to this point. Given the climate and ecological emergency resolution declared by Crowhurst Parish Council in 2019, this venture aligns with our aspirations to achieve net zero by 2030.’

Following detailed land assessments and consultations with local and Swainham Lane residents and to retain existing long views across the landscape, the proposed number of panels was reduced by 25%, prior to the planning application being submitted.

Wildflowers growing on a solar farm in East Sussex, including cornflowers, poppies and ox-eye daisies (red and yellow). The log pile provides a home for invertebrates. Image: John Feltwell

Boosting biodiversity

Nestled within 9km of hedgerow edges, all of the fields will be put over to nature conservation – including under the solar panels – with plantings of wildflower meadow mixes across the whole site. Existing hedgerows will be gapped-up and 1km of new hedgerows, together with native trees and shrubs, planted. Numerous wildlife boxes and badger flaps will be incorporated. Essentially the site will become a highly biodiverse nature reserve, allowing the land to regenerate and thrive for the 40-year life span of the solar farm.

The project would not have been possible without Energise Sussex Coast who secured grant funding to cover the costs of a feasibility study, the planning application fee, planning consultancy and professional, expert reports on landscape, archaeology, and ecology.

Energise Sussex Coast’s founder Richard Watson told me: ‘This is a community energy project, with any profits generated going into a community benefit fund. This will be managed by the village to support the decarbonisation of Crowhurst, and those at risk of fuel poverty, by funding or part-funding energy saving measures such as insulation or renewable heating schemes.’

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