The group trying to stop a Solar Farm development near Selby says there has been a setback and its attempt to bring a Judicial Review into the scheme has failed.
The Helios Renewable Energy project would see thousands of solar panels installed on 758 hectares (1,873 acres) of farmland between the villages Camblesforth and Hirst Courtney south of Selby.
That’s an area the size of 900 football pitches. Hundreds of people have objected to the project.
The spokesperson for the group HALT is Byron Ward, He told YorkMix:
“It is with real disappointment that HALT has had to withdraw its attempt to bring a Judicial Review against the Helios Development Consent Order.
The DCO was granted in mid-December, leaving a strict six-week legal window to file and unfortunately, because the decision was issued just before Christmas, much of that window was lost to holidays and the seasonal shutdown of legal professional services.
“We were advised that this deadline is fixed by law and cannot be extended.
“In the weeks following the decision, members of HALT reviewed the documents in detail with professional input. The most credible potential challenge related to cumulative impact, particularly how national policy EN-3 (paragraph 2.10.26) was applied.
“Despite the holiday period, HALT secured an initial barrister meeting on 23 December, which confirmed there was a credible argument worth exploring. However, the barrister required significant upfront fees and advised that HALT would need to serve the claim documents itself, which was not realistic at that stage.
“HALT therefore sought a second opinion.”
Mr Ward continued: “A second barrister, consulted on 6 January, again confirmed there was a credible issue but was unable to take the case on due to the limited time remaining.
“On his advice, HALT then approached a specialist junior planning counsel, who reviewed all the material and met with us on 12 January.
“Unfortunately, that counsel did not agree with the proposed grounds and was not prepared to proceed. With the statutory deadline falling immediately afterwards, there was no longer time to prepare and file a claim properly.”
Byron Ward says this is incredibly disappointing for everyone involved, particularly given the amount of time and effort put in. The timing of the decision so close to Christmas significantly reduced the practical opportunity to pursue legal action, he says.
HALT raised £8,345 via GoFundMe, along with some private donations. They say they are awaiting final legal invoices and will publish a financial breakdown in due course.
Any donor who wishes to receive a refund should contact HALT directly and payments will be made with only the proportionate legal costs deducted.
Any remaining funds will be retained by HALT and used either to commission specialist technical reports to challenge and scrutinise the project at local authority level during the discharge of planning requirements, or to support a wider community fund.
Mr Ward says: “Although the Judicial Review cannot proceed, the project is not yet finalised. Helios must still agree detailed matters with the local authority through the discharge of planning requirements. Issues such as construction impacts, noise, working hours and fire safety are still to be approved and could take years.
“HALT will continue to monitor this process closely and will update the group as opportunities arise.”
