Meridian Solar
Consultation Feedback Form
30 May 2024 to 11 July 2024

Downing Renewable Developments (DRD) is consulting on Meridian Solar – a proposed solar farm with associated infrastructure including co-located battery storage and a grid connection to National Grid’s planned Weston Marsh substation east of Spalding. Meridian Solar would supply around 750 Megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power around 215,000 homes, This is roughly the equivalent of powering all the homes in South Holland, East Lindsey, North Kesteven and Lincoln combined.

This is phase one of our consultation for Meridian Solar, and your comments will assist us in developing our proposals in more detail and refining our project design ahead of statutory consultation. This non-statutory consultation is open between 30 May 2024 to 11 July 2024.

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 Meridian Solar.

To help inform your response, we have published a consultation newsletter, available on the Meridian Solar website. We have also planned a number of in person consultation events where project specialists will be on hand to answer questions and seek to address any concerns people may have regarding the Scheme.

How to respond to our consultation

You can provide feedback by:

A copy of our feedback form is included on the following page. Our other consultation documents, including an online version of this feedback form, are available on our website https://www.meridiansolarfarm.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 652 6120 or by email at enquiries@meridiansolar.co.uk.

Please submit your response by 23:59pm on 11 July 2024.

Views on solar

1. What are your views on solar farms as part of the renewable infrastructure needed to meet the UK Government’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050?






Please explain why

2. What are your views of the development of solar farms located in the South Holland area, Lincolnshire, England?






Please explain why

Site layout

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






4. 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 Meridian Solar would be required to be transferred to the national grid. The planned grid connection for Meridian Solar is National Grid’s proposed Weston Marsh Substation near Spalding. 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. We may investigate placing infrastructure underground if required to mitigate impacts.

5. Which connection corridor do your comments relate to? Please refer to the map provided on page 6 in the newsletter.






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

The local environment and landscape

We are currently preparing our Preliminary Environmental information Report (PEIR), which will provide an initial appraisal of the Scheme’s potential impacts and opportunities for the environment.

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












8. 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 South Holland and beyond. Our consultation is important in helping us to understand what local schemes or projects could be supported to benefit the communities located closest to the Scheme.

Recent examples from other projects include providing rooftop solar installations, installing electric vehicle charging points, providing permissive paths, and creating science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and employment opportunities.

9. Do you have any suggestions on what community benefits would be appropriate and/or are currently lacking in the local area?

Our consultation

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

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





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







12. 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 accessed our consultation and enable us to keep you updated on Meridian Solar.

We may publish a summary of the feedback received through this consultation, but no information about an individual would be revealed. 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.

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 collected via this consultation 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 Meridian Solar, for the purposes of work relating to Meridian 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 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.