Draycott Solar Farm: Site Assessment and Design

The solar farm will be developed south of Cresswell in the Staffordshire Moorlands District. Following detailed technical analyses, this land allows us to build a project with the following technical characteristics:

  • Construction area: approx. 90 acres including the area where the substation is located
  • Peak capacity: 40 Megawatt
  • Clean energy supply for approximately 9,261 households
  • Avoidance of 28,201 tonnes of CO2 per year

Layout of the solar farm

Landscape integration

The starting point of the landscape integration plan is the preservation and strengthening of the existing landscape structures in the area. The following measures, among others, can be taken as part of the landscape integration plan:

  • Retention of hedgerows and trees, as well as planting new ones along selected boundaries of the site for additional screening;
  • Installation of a deer fence to distinguish the boundaries of the site; and
  • Enhancement of retained grassland around the solar panel infrastructure through over-seeding.

The reinforcement and planting of hedges offers many opportunities for local fauna including birds and insects, such as shelter and foraging areas. The fencing is necessary to prevent theft and destruction of the solar panels as much as possible and is a requirement of the solar farm’s insurance company.

Example of deer fence

Agricultural Land Classification

The site located in Staffordshire Moorlands District has been assessed as predominantly Sub-Grade 3b or Grade 4 agricultural land. This means it is not “best and most valuable land”, in other words, from a food production perspective, it is sub-optimal. Farmers on land like this have to work the land very hard using large amounts of fertilizers, herbicides and other chemicals. This is neither economically, nor environmentally sustainable. There will always be a conflict between food security and energy security; this is why we at Kronos Solar avoid using “best and most valuable land”, wherever possible.

Cultural Heritage and Archaeology

There are no listed buildings or scheduled ancient monuments located within the site, and there are no Registered Parks and Gardens or Registered Historic Landscapes located within or immediately surrounding the site. There is a Environmental Protection area directly east of the development boundary called Hosewood Park and there is also a greenbelt protection area located 0.4km west of the site, incorporating mitigation measures into the design it is considered there will be little to no impact to the protected areas. This will be confirmed through a landscape and visual impact report when submitting the planning application .

Highways and Access

Access to the site is provided by existing private roads that serve the existing farms, accessed from Sandon/Cresswell Rd.

Flood Risk

The site is within the vicinity of the River Trent however, is not in any flood risk zones. A sustainable drainage system will be put in place according to the regulations and services will be flood resilient.

Aerial view of the location of the site

Land use combinations include grazing sheep and hay, co-location with wind energy and, in some cases, honey bees. Below are some examples.

Ecology integration

The ecological considerations go hand in hand with the landscape mitigation proposals and include:

  • Sensitive management of the retained hedges and trees for the benefit of the wildlife including targeted bolster planting;
  • Conservation of trees of high value;
  • Grassland management through an appropriate light grazing regime, such as sheep, and sensitive hay management;
  • Provision of ground nesting habitat on areas removed from modules; and
  • Provision of bat roosting and bird nesting boxes on suitable retained trees.