Green Hill Solar Farm – Latest Information – Examination Stage

National infrastructure projects are also called Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP). These are large scale developments of which Green Hill Solar Farm is one.

As part of the pre-examination stage, Holcot Parish Council have submitted their register of interest to have their say with the Planning Inspectorate 14.07.2025.   The pre-examination stage takes about 3 months.

The process for national infrastructure projects is to decide if a Development Consent Order (DCO) can be granted. A DCO is a legal document that allows an applicant to build their proposed project. The applicant submits an application for a proposed development to the Planning Inspectorate. A panel of independent inspectors called the Examining Authority look at the project and start the examination of the application. They make a recommendation to the relevant Secretary of State about whether the project should go ahead.

In the months after the registration period closes (14.08.2025), the Examining Authority will hold a preliminary meeting. This meeting is to discuss the main issues the Examining Authority will be examining, and the timetable for the examination stage.

At this stage the Examining Authority asks questions about the proposed development. The applicant and anyone who has registered to have their say can make comments by the deadlines in the examination timetable. Anyone can attend hearings that may take place during this stage. The examination can take up to 6 months.

Once a decision is made by the relevant Secretary of State, there is a 6 week period where people can challenge the decision in the High Court. This is called a judicial review.

As information comes in, this page will be updated accordingly.