Two UK Solar Farms Approved in Two Days — With Bird Impacts Written Into the Decisions

Two of the largest solar projects in the UK planning pipeline were approved within two days of each other in October 2026, and in both cases the decision letter spent real space on wildlife. For anyone building, operating or supplying ground-mounted solar, that is the interesting part.

The two decisions

Green Hill Solar Farm — up to 500MW of generation plus battery storage and grid connection, spread across North Northamptonshire, West Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, connecting at the Grendon substation — was granted development consent on 8 October 2026. The project has an operational life of up to 60 years, and the minister set a five-year deadline for works to start. Just under 855 hectares of best and most versatile agricultural land would be unavailable to arable farming during that period. The application drew 1,262 relevant representations and was examined over six months.

Steeple Renewables in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire — around 450MW of solar paired with roughly 150MW of battery, connecting at the former West Burton power station site — was granted consent on 9 October 2026. The order limits cover about 888 hectares. The minister assessed that more than 90% of the site could be best and most versatile land, above the developer's own 72.1% estimate, but concluded the siting was justified by the grid connection and other factors.

The bird question

Both schemes are nationally significant infrastructure projects, examined by the Planning Inspectorate rather than decided locally. At Green Hill, environmental survey work identified 286 skylark territories across the proposed development area. The developer proposed a substantial mitigation package — alternative habitat, biodiversity enhancement, new planting, green corridors and more than 50 kilometres of new and improved hedgerows, with about 228 hectares of the roughly 1,200-hectare site set aside for mitigation and enhancement.

Milton Keynes City Council argued that the surrounding land could not absorb the number of displaced ground-nesting birds, and the minister agreed the point had force: the applicant did not own all the surrounding land, and there was no guarantee that land would remain available across a 60-year operating life. Bird impacts therefore carried negative weight in the planning balance. Natural England supported the mitigation strategy, but the minister noted that Natural England has no specific remit for skylark outside designated sites. The scheme was approved anyway, on the strength of the renewable generation and energy security benefits — but the bird position is now a documented, enforceable part of the order rather than a talking point.

What this means in practice

• Survey before layout, not after. Territory counts and species mix shape where arrays can sit and what mitigation is owed. Fixing a layout first and surveying second is how projects buy themselves extra conditions.
• Bird management is a condition, so document it. Habitat management, monitoring and reporting obligations have to be discharged after consent. Evidence is what discharges them — build the paper trail from day one.
• Budget for deterrence in both CapEx and O&M. On operating sites, birds mean droppings and debris on modules (which costs yield and cleaning time), nesting under and around arrays, and in agricultural settings, grazing conflict at the array boundary. Deterrence is easier to fund when it is written into the O&M line than when it turns up as an unbudgeted complaint.
• Specify for an unmanned site. Solar sites are rarely staffed. Equipment needs IP-rated housings, UV-stable materials, wide temperature tolerance, workable behaviour in coastal or high-salinity air, solar or battery autonomy through overcast weeks, and remote configuration so a technician is not sent out for a mode change.
• Never at the nest. Deterrence belongs at the array and its boundary, not at active nests of protected species. Get the ecologist to sign off on placement.

Where we fit

We build solar-powered bird repellers — see the range and the selection criteria in our bird repeller range and in our solar bird repeller buyer guide. Buyers in Europe and the UK typically ask us for CE and RoHS documentation, housing UV data, battery serviceability and spare-part supply over a multi-year O&M contract, which is the right list. Tell us the site size, climate and whether it is a construction-phase or operational requirement, and we will say plainly which units suit it.