Kingsway Solar Farm 2nd Consultation Response

Published: 29 October 2025

To: Kingsway Solar Farm Ltd
Project: Kingsway Solar Farm

Burwell Parish Council has resolved to object to the Kingsway Solar Farm development for the following reasons:

Biodiversity and ecology
Pylon and cable location could have adverse ecological impacts on local wildlife and nature sites such as Spring Close, Priory Meadow, Priory Wood and Pauline’s Swamp, as well as the chalk streams and lodes that flow though and around those sites. A biodiversity impact study is required (including the potential loss of wildlife corridors). The study should consider the impact of both overhead and underground cable routes.

Impact on local residents
Local residents will suffer extreme disturbance during the cable/pylon construction phase due to noise, dust, and increased traffic. This will directly affect local farmers and landowners, their well-being and ability to manage their land effectively. They do not feel they are being listened to, and the feedback is that they are bullied into having pylons on their land. We need to know how this work will be consulted, planned, measured, monitored and policed.

This area of the village is incredibly important in terms of residents’ recreational needs. Weirs Drove and the surrounding areas (roads, footpaths and byways) are unique in providing safe, low-traffic access to the countryside for walking, jogging, cycling and horse riding. In addition, the area provides active-travel routes to Wicken Fen Nature Reserve and the Lodes Way cycle paths. No comparable recreational area exists anywhere else around the village (due to busy roads and limited public access to private land).

There is also concern about the impact of EMF (electromagnetic fields) exposure for individuals and the potential neurological impacts still being researched such as cognitive impairment, depression, fatigue, headaches and tumours.

Landscape impact

We believe that the visual impact of the proposed 400kV overhead cable with 50 – 65m pylons, connecting to the national grid at a new substation (Burwell South) would unacceptably damage the local landscape, particularly at the following locations: The Weirs, Spring Close, Pauline’s Swamp, Devil’s Dike, Reach Road, The Rec, and along the numerous droves running west from the village.
The cumulative landscape impact is a particular concern. The new cables and pylons, added to the existing overhead cables, solar farms (existing and planned), and battery storage units (existing and planned), will inevitably produce an industrialised landscape. The area is very flat, making mitigation measures, such as changing the cable’s route, unlikely to be effective. For that reason we request that the feasibility of cable burial is investigated and a report issued.