RES has submitted a planning application to Sevenoaks District Council for a solar farm on land between Horton Kirby and Fawkham. The name “Chimmens” comes from a common name associated with one of the fields within the site.

Our goal is to develop a solar project that will:

• Fight climate change (which is a long-term threat to the countryside)
• Improve energy security
• Provide local economic benefits
• Integrate into the local landscape
• Enhance local biodiversity

If consented, it is anticipated that the solar farm will be capable of generating up to 49.9 MW of clean, low cost renewable electricity. This is enough to power approximately 19,194¹ homes, saving up to 32,000² tonnes a year of CO₂ compared to electricity from fossil fuels like gas.

RES believes in meaningful and effective consultation and we aim to engage early with the local community and key stakeholders in order to facilitate constructive consultation. This helps to identify issues and concerns, as well as benefits and opportunities, which we can then consider when developing the design of the proposal.

In July 2023 we consulted key stakeholders and the public on our initial design for our proposed Chimmens Solar Farm. This included a meeting with parish councils on 28th June 2023 and a public exhibition on 10th July 2023 at Fawkham Parish Hall, enabling people to learn more about the project, discuss the proposal with our project team, provide us with feedback on the preliminary design.

You can read more about our consultation activities in our Statement of Community Involvement found here.

 

^{1 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6556027d046ed400148b99fe/electricity-generation-costs-2023.pdf}

^{2 https://solarenergyuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Copper-Consultancy_Solar-Energy-UK_Public-attitudes-to-solar_January-2022.pdf}