Oaklands Farm Solar Development Consent Order obtained for BayWa r.e.

On 19 June 2025, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero made the Oaklands Farm Solar Development Consent Order (“DCO”), consenting BayWa r.e.’s Oaklands Farm Solar Park project in Derbyshire.

Patrick Robinson and Emily Kell-Rowan acted for BayWa r.e. on its first nationally significant infrastructure project, which is the first solar DCO to be consented under the new suite of National Policy Statements and to be determined in accordance with section 104, rather than section 105, of the Planning Act 2008.  In his Decision Letter, the Secretary of State noted the scheme qualified as Critical National Priority Infrastructure on account of its renewable energy production, recording that under the National Policy Statements there is now a presumption in favour of granting consent for such schemes. 

Throughout the Examination of the DCO, there were many discussions on the need for the development and whether its benefits outweigh its impacts.  However, no impacts were considered so significant that the exceptions to the priority of such infrastructure came into play, and the Secretary of State’s decision is clear that the most important consideration in determining the application was the scheme’s contribution to the UK’s low carbon energy generation. 

The Decision Letter also illustrates the Secretary of State’s latest thinking on securing Biodiversity Net Gain (“BNG”) within DCOs.  Although the delivery of BNG is secured within the DCO, through the Landscape and Ecological Management Plan, and the applicant’s Environmental Statement assessed the significant volumes of BNG the scheme could provide, “very little weight” was attributed to this provision by the Secretary of State in his decision.  This may be a recognition of BNG being a non-mandatory provision for DCOs or an indication to developers that greater weight will be attributed to those schemes that secure the volumes of BNG set out within their Environmental Statements within their DCO, but we will need more solar decisions to find this out.

Developers and their consultants will be delighted to hear that recurring ‘hot topics’ such as the development of Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land (“BMVAL”) are increasingly being considered as less important issues. A live example of this is the impacts of the Oaklands scheme on BMVAL being attributed “little negative weight” in the planning balance.  Although not explicitly stated within the Decision Letter, such a position is consistent with there being no food security emergency declared in the UK, no obligation on owners of BMVAL to use that land for food production, and the Government’s position that the biggest threat to food security is climate change itself.

 Time will tell how Oaklands paves the way for future solar decision-making, so watch this space as this and following solar DCOs are determined.

 If you would like to discuss the Oaklands Decision, please contact Patrick Robinson on [email protected] and Emily Kell-Rowan on [email protected], or Alex Minhinick on [email protected]