Our pre-application community consultation will run from 25th February - 28th March 2025
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Our pre-application community consultation will run from 25th February - 28th March 2025 |
Westfield Energy Conservation Park
Safeguarding the UK’s electricity network, sustainably.
Lightrock Power are proposing a wildlife friendly Energy Conservation Park on land at Munches Farm, Cumberlow Green. The project would include a Solar Farm, a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), and areas of dedicated biodiversity enhancement area.
Biodiversity
Lightrock Power strive for the best possible outcome for biodiversity. This includes working in partnership with RSPB and Buglife with their expertise used to tailor their biodiversity advice to each site and locality. We also love to hear from the community on their views; local wildlife knowledge at an early stage can mean even better outcomes, so please get involved in the community consultation if you can (details below). Recent rules mean all new developments must achieve a 10% biodiversity net gain (BNG). At Lightrock, we aim for much more than that and have we’ve been able achieve over 100% on some of our previous projects. More detail on the biodiversity areas will be made available as the consultation progresses.
Solar
Solar Farms are still, quiet, efficient, and reliable. Renewables are the cheapest way to generate electricity and ground mounted solar power is one of the cheapest forms of renewables.
Click here to learn more about Solar and our approach.
BESS
The BESS will be able to import electrical power when the electricity being generated, such as our proposed co-located solar farm, is more than is being used. The stored power can then be sent back to the grid when it is needed most, which means we can help keep the lights on! Also, without BESS, any excess power generated cheaply at times of low demand would be wasted.
Click here to learn more about BESS and our approach.
The landscape-led design would utilise land within the blue area of the map.
The project would deliver significant carbon savings, helping to decarbonise the GB electricity grid in line with local and national Government targets and to move us closer to more affordable household bills that are possible from renewables with a fossil fuel free electricity market.
The infrastructure and biodiversity areas would be contained within the blue area on the map above. Biodiversity enhancement would be placed sensitively to allow a buffering area from our closest neighbours.
The map can be scrolled for detail, and enlarged by clicking the button in the top right hand corner.
Pre-application community consultation
Our pre-application community consultation will run from 25th February to 28th March. You can get involved in the following ways:
Webinar:
Date: Tuesday 25 March 2025
Time: 6pm-7pm
Click the below button to register
Public event:
Date: Tuesday 18th March 2025
Time: 3pm-7pm
Location: Rushden Village Hall, Church End, Rushden, SG9 0SQ
Online Survey:
You can participate in our anonymous survey by clicking the below button. We'll answer as many questions received via the survey as we can at on our Q&As page once all the consultation events have taken place.
Contact methods:
Email: info@westfieldenergyconservationpark.com
Phone: 0808 1687888
Letter: FREEPOST Westfield Energy Conservation Park
Further project information can be found by clicking on the tabs at the top of this page.
We plan to submit a Town and Country planning application to North Herts in late Spring 2025, once all feedback has been considered.
