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Advice to Campaign to Protect Old Woodstock

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Enquiry

From
Campaign to Protect Old Woodstock
Date advice given
26 April 2024
Enquiry type
Email

Dear Mr Morrison, I sent a request for advice to Mr George Harrold believing him to be the case officer for this matter but I received the automated response below. I'd be most grateful if you could ask the current case officer to respond to my request for advice, which is as follows: The Campaign to Protect Old Woodstock (C-POW) has been following the progress of of the Botley West Solar Farm (BWSF) through the DCO process. We are currently considering whether to apply to be an "Interested Party" (IP) at the appropriate time. In order to assist us to decide this, and what role to play if granted IP status, we would appreciate advice in respect of the scope of the Examination. As information has become available we have become increasingly concerned about the ability and suitability of the potential applicants to deliver what would (currently) be the largest solar farm in the UK, if a DCO were to be granted. SolarFive Ltd appears to be what is generally described as a "shell company". It was incorporated in May 2020, seemingly with the sole purpose of promoting BWSF. It publishes only abridged accounts, the most recent of which, for the year ended December 2022, show negative shareholder funds. It has only one director, Mr P.Gerstmann, shown in Companies House filings to be German. It appears to lack both the funds and appropriate corporate governance to undertake a scheme of this scale. Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) is a company registered in Germany. Mr P Gerstmann is also a director of this company. Although it claims on its website to have "robust finances" there is currently no way of verifying this or its management and governance. Its latest filed accounts are for 2020 and show inadequate resources. It also claims to have been involved in the development of large scale solar farm projects elsewhere in the world, but provides no details of those projects which allow these claims to be verified. At best, PVDP's suitability and ability to undertake this scheme is not proven. Given this background, C-POW believes the Examination should investigate the ability and suitability of these organisations to implement BWSF from construction through its management for 40 years and then to its removal. Presumably, the commitment to remove the solar farm would require adequate financial guarantees to be in place at the time the DCO is granted. Such guarantees would need to be given by a company with appropriate financial credibility, otherwise they and the commitment to remove would be meaningless. We suggest that all this might be described as the "Deliverability" of the scheme, but PINS may use another descriptor for matters such as this. We would, therefore, be grateful for advice as to whether this matter ("Deliverability") will be investigated and reported on by the Examiners and, if so, whether C-POW might, if granted IP status, be allowed to present the evidence it is collecting on this matter. I look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes, Andrew Rein (Treasurer)

Advice given

Good morning Mr Rein, Thank you for your email, the contents of which are noted. Unfortunately, George Harrold has now left the Planning Inspectorate. I would like to introduce myself as Case Officer for Botley West Solar Farm. I wish to inform you that the Planning Act 2008 does not set out eligibility criteria that an applicant must meet in order to be able to make an application for an order granting development consent. Furthermore, if an applicant seeks powers for compulsory acquisition in a draft Development Consent Order (DCO) submitted with such an application, the Planning Act 2008: guidance related to procedures for the compulsory acquisition of land sets out the requirements in respect of funding. The availability of funding is a matter which is explored by Examining Authorities during examinations if an application is accepted for examination. You may wish to contact the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) with your concerns. Government guidance relating to such matters and how to contact OFSI can be found at the following link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/suspected-breach-of-financial-sanctions-what-to-do However, you will appreciate that the Planning Inspectorate cannot advise you on this and I would urge you to obtain independent legal advice to investigate your options in this regard. Should the application be accepted for Examination, the Campaign to Protect Old Woodstock (C-POW) will be able to register as an Interested Party by submitting a relevant representation, within which C-POW will be able to raise any concerns with the Application. This must be submitted on the ‘Registration and Relevant Representation form’ which will be made available on the project webpage of the National Infrastructure Planning website at the appropriate time. Further information about registering as an Interested Party can be found in the Planning Inspectorate’s ‘Advice Note 8.2: How to register to participate in an Examination’ which can be found here: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/legislation-andadvice/advice-notes/ The Planning Inspectorate has a duty to publish all advice given on the project webpage under s51 of the Planning Act 2008. Therefore, we will publish this advice, alongside your enquiry, on the Botley West webpage in due course. You may find it helpful to subscribe to receive email notifications for key events that occur after an application has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. Kind regards, Gina Shorland