Meridian Solar
Stage two consultation feedback form
24 April – 8 June 2025

Please complete this feedback form to let us know your views on our stage two proposals for Meridian Solar. The deadline for responses is 11:59pm on Sunday 8 June 2025.

We are developing proposals for a new solar farm and overhead line connection to the national grid, located north of Crowland and east of Spalding in Lincolnshire.

The proposals consist of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and an approximately 12 to 13 km overhead line connection to National Grid’s planned Weston Marsh substation (due to be located east of Spalding, the exact location to be confirmed by National Grid). It also includes associated infrastructure, including co-located battery energy storage systems (BESS) and inter-array connections to link together the land parcels where the solar panels are located.

Meridian Solar would generate around 750 Megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power around 215,000 homes, which is roughly the equivalent of powering all the homes in South Holland, East Lindsey, North Kesteven and Lincoln combined.

We are now seeking your views as part of our stage two (statutory) consultation, where we are presenting more detailed proposals. This stage two consultation is being undertaken under the requirements of the Planning Act 2008. We will consider and have regard to all the feedback received in developing our proposals, before we submit our application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate.

To help inform your response, we have prepared a Consultation Information Booklet, which includes a description of the project elements, information about the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) and details of how you can respond to the consultation.

We recommend that you read our Consultation Information Booklet to help you provide us with your feedback on our proposals. You may wish to refer to the PEIR or to the shorter Non-Technical Summary (NTS) of the PEIR for more detailed information.

All our consultation materials can be found on our project website: www.meridiansolarfarm.co.uk/documents.

How to provide your feedback

Please use this feedback form to provide your response as part of this consultation. You do not have to answer all the questions in this feedback form, and if you wish to make any other comments on our proposals, there is space available at the end of the form.

This stage two consultation will run from Thursday 24 April 2025 to 11:59pm on Sunday 8 June 2025. It is important you submit your feedback to us before the closing date, so that it can be considered in developing our proposals.

Section 1: About You

Your details are important to us in helping to understand who has responded to our consultation, including any organisations and members of the local community. Please see our Data Privacy Notice at the back of this feedback form for details on how we will use your data.

Name:

Organisation (if applicable):

Postcode:

Email:

What is your age?









1. How would you describe your interest in our proposals?









Section 2: General questions

The need for Meridian Solar

2. Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with the following statements:

Climate change is an important issue







Energy security is an important issue







Moving away from fossil fuels is important







The UK needs more renewable energy







The UK needs more energy storage







2a. Please let us know the reasons for your responses and any other comments you have:

3. Please tell us your views on solar energy:







3a. Please let us know the reasons for your responses and any other comments you have:

Section 3: Views on Meridian Solar

4. Based on the information presented as part of our stage two consultation, how supportive are you of our proposals for Meridian Solar?




4a. Please let us know the reasons for your responses and any other comments you have:

Section 4: Indicative layout of the solar PV and inter-array areas

We have produced an indicative layout plan which shows our current proposals for the land parcels, including areas for solar PV panels, as well as the inter-array areas to connect the land parcels together. Please refer to pages 24-29 of the Consultation Information Booklet for more information on the site layout, including land parcel areas A – D and the inter-array areas.

5. Do you have any comments on the indicative layout?

6. Do you have any specific comments about the land parcel areas A-D and/or the inter-array areas? Please specify which land parcel or inter-array area(s) you are commenting on.

Section 5: Connection corridor

The electricity generated by Meridian Solar would be required to be transferred to the national grid. The planned grid connection location for Meridian Solar is National Grid’s proposed Weston Marsh 400kV substation, due to be located east of Spalding (the exact location to be confirmed by National Grid). Our proposal currently assumes that we will connect to the grid via an approximately 12 to 13 km overhead line. More information on the connection corridor and indicative alignment for the overhead line can be viewed on pages 31-33 in the Consultation Information Booklet. You can use the Interactive Map on the project website to f ind locations of interest to you inter-array areas.

7. Do you have any comments on the connection corridor or indicative alignment for the overhead line? Please describe any specific areas you are commenting on.

Section 6: Construction, Operation and Decommissioning

Should Meridian Solar be granted development consent, construction could start in 2027 and is expected to take between 24 and 36 months. It would be in operation for 40 years from the date of final commissioning after construction. We will develop, construct, maintain and operate Meridian Solar for the entirety of its lifecycle. It is expected that decommissioning may take up to approximately two years. More information about this can be found on page 35 of the Consultation Information Booklet.

8. Do you have any comments on our assessments relating to the potential effects during the construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of Meridian Solar?

Section 7: Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR)

Our PEIR and Non-Technical Summary (NTS) provide an overview of our preliminary environmental findings (including studies and surveys) that have been undertaken to date. This work is across a range of environmental topic areas and also sets out any suitable measures identified to help reduce any impacts. We would like to receive your comments on the key environmental topics that are important to you. More information about this can be found on pages 36-40 of the Consultation Information Booklet.

9. Do you have any comments on the methodology and/or preliminary assessments in the PEIR or NTS? Please specify the environmental topic areas you are commenting on.

Section 8: Community benefits

We are 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 Meridian Solar. More information about this can be found on page 19 of the Consultation Information Booklet.

10. What types of projects/sectors should community benefit funds be targeted to? (possible examples included in brackets, but all suggestions welcome)








11. How would you like community benefit funds to be managed/administered?






11a. Please let us know the reasons for your responses and any other comments you have:

Section 9: Other comments

12. Please provide any further comments you would like to make on our proposals.

Section 10: Views on the consultation

13. Please let us know how you heard about the consultation by ticking one or more of the following boxes:







14. Did you attend our in person consultation events or watch an online information presentation?





15. How informative did you find our consultation events and/or our consultation materials?






16. Please rate the information included as part of this consultation in terms of how clearly it was presented and how easy it was to understand:







17. Do you have any further comments on the delivery of the consultation?

What happens next

We will review and have regard to all comments and suggestions that have been received during the consultation period. We will set out a summary of the responses that you have given us in a Consultation Report, with details on how we have had regard to feedback and how it has shaped and influenced the proposals. This report will form part of our application for development consent and will be published following submission of our application.

Get in touch

You can find further information and details of progress a at: www.meridiansolarfarm.co.uk or by getting in touch with the contact centre using the details below.

Downing Renewable Developments (Company number OC439748) has a registered office at 10 Lower Thames Street, London, England, EC3R 6AF.

You can contact us using the following details:

Freephone: 0800 652 6120

Email: enquiries@meridiansolar.co.uk

Post: FREEPOST DOWNING MERIDIAN (no stamp required)

Data privacy notice

Meridian Solar Farm Limited 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 Meridian Solar Farm Limited 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:

  • Meridian Solar Farm Limited 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 Meridian Solar Farm Limited. For more information, see our full data privacy statement https://www.downing.co.uk/legals/privacy-and-cookie-policy.