The Mallard Pass Solar Farm Order 2024

Made: 12th July 2024

Coming into force: 3rd August 2024

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 114[^f00007], 115[^f00008], 120[^f00009], 122[^f00010] 123[^f00011] and 140 of the 2008 Act, makes the following Order.

PART 1 — PRELIMINARY

Citation and commencement

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This Order may be cited as the Mallard Pass Solar Farm Order and comes into force on 3rd August 2024.

Interpretation

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• (1) In this Order—

• “the 1961 Act” means the Land Compensation Act 1961[^f00012];

• “the 1965 Act” means the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965[^f00013];

• “the 1980 Act” means the Highways Act 1980[^f00014];

• “the 1981 Act” means the Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981[^f00015];

• “the 1984 Act” means the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984[^f00016];

• “the 1989 Act” means the Electricity Act 1989[^f00017];

• “the 1990 Act” means the Town and Country Planning Act 1990[^f00018];

• “the 1991 Act” means the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991[^f00019];

• “the 2008 Act” means the Planning Act 2008[^f00020];

• “access and rights of way plans” means the plans of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which are certified by the Secretary of State as the access and rights of way plans for the purposes of this Order;

• “address” includes any number or address used for the purposes of electronic transmission;

• “apparatus” has the same meaning as in Part 3 (street works in England and Wales) of the 1991 Act except that, unless otherwise provided, it further includes pipelines (and parts of them), aerial markers, cathodic protection test posts, field boundary markers, transformer rectifier kiosks, electrical cables, telecommunications equipment and electricity cabinets;

• “authorised development” means the development and associated development described in Schedule 1 (authorised development), which is development within the meaning of section 32 (meaning of “development”) of the 2008 Act;

• “book of reference” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the book of reference for the purposes of this Order;

• “building” includes any structure or erection or any part of a building, structure or erection;

• “carriageway” has the same meaning as in the 1980 Act;

• “claimed public right of way” means the route of a public right of way that is claimed to exist by members of the public within the area shown on the claimed public right of way plan;

• “claimed public right of way plan” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the claimed public right of way plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “commence” means beginning to carry out a material operation, as defined in section 155 (when development begins) of the 2008 Act, comprised in or carried out for the purposes of, the authorised development other than the permitted preliminary works (except where stated to the contrary) and “commencement”, “commenced” and cognate expressions are to be construed accordingly;

• “commissioning” means the process of testing the systems and components of the phase of Work No. 1 that is the subject of the notice given under requirement 3 of Schedule 2 (requirements) in order to ensure that they function in accordance with plant design specifications and the undertaker’s operational and safety requirements;

• “date of final commissioning” means in respect of each phase of the authorised development as approved under requirement 3 of Schedule 2 (requirements) the date on which each phase of the authorised development commences operation by generating electricity on a commercial basis but excluding the generation of electricity during commissioning;

• “design and access statement” means the document of that name identified in the table of Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the design and access statement for the purposes of this Order;

• “design guidance” means section 4.5 of the design and access statement;

• “electrical cables” means—cables of differing types and voltages installed for the purposes of conducting electricity, auxiliary cables, cables connecting to direct current (DC) boxes, earthing cables, data cables and optical fibre cables; andworks associated with cable laying including jointing pits, hardstanding adjoining the jointing pits, combiner boxes, fibre bays, cable ducts, cable protection, joint protection, manholes, kiosks, marker posts, underground cable marker, tiles and tape, send and receive pits for horizontal directional drilling, trenching, lighting, and a pit or container to capture fluids associated with drilling;

• “electronic transmission” means a communication transmitted—by means of an electronic communications network; orby other means but while in electronic form;

• “environmental statement” means the document of that name identified in the table in Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the environmental statement for the purposes of this Order;

• “footpath” and “footway” have the same meaning as in the 1980 Act;

• “hedgerows plans” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the hedgerows plans for the purposes of this Order;

• “highway” and “highway authority” have the same meaning as in the 1980 Act[^f00021];

• “holding company” has the same meaning as in section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006[^f00022];

• “land plans” means the plans of that name identified in the table in Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which are certified by the Secretary of State as the land plans for the purposes of this Order;

• “limits of deviation” means the limits of deviation shown for each numbered work on the works plans;

• “maintain” includes inspect, repair, adjust, alter, remove, refurbish, reconstruct, replace and improve any part of the authorised development (but not remove, reconstruct or replace the whole of Work No. 1 at the same time), to the extent that such works do not give rise to any materially new or materially different environmental effects than those identified in the environmental statement for the operation of the authorised development and “maintenance” and “maintaining” are to be construed accordingly;

• “Order land” means the land shown coloured pink and the land shown coloured blue on the land plans, which is described in the book of reference;

• “Order limits” means the limits of land or rights over land to be acquired permanently or used temporarily as shown on the land plans, and within which the authorised development as shown on the works plans may be carried out;

• “outline construction environmental management plan” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline construction environmental management plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline construction traffic management plan” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline construction traffic management plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline decommissioning environmental management plan” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline decommissioning environmental management plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline employment, skills and supply chain plan” means the plan of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline skills, supply chain and employment plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline excavated materials management plan” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline excavated materials management plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline landscape and ecology management plan” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline landscape and ecology management plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline operational environmental management plan” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline operational environmental management plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline soil management plan” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline soil management plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline surface water drainage strategy” means the document of that name contained in Appendix 11.6 of the environmental statement identified in table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline surface water drainage strategy for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline travel plan” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline travel plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline water management plan” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline water management plan for the purposes of this Order;

• “outline written scheme of investigation” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as the outline written scheme of investigation for the purposes of this Order;

• “owner”, in relation to land, has the same meaning as in section 7 (interpretation) of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981[^f00023];

• “parameters” means the document of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which is certified by the Secretary of State as parameters for the purposes of this Order;

• “permissive paths” means new paths providing restricted public access within the Order limits along the routes shown on the outline landscape and ecology management plan;

• “permitted preliminary works” means all or any of—environmental surveys, geotechnical surveys, intrusive archaeological surveys and other investigations for the purpose of assessing ground conditions;removal of plant and machinery;above ground site preparation for temporary facilities for the use of contractors;remedial work in respect of any contamination or other adverse ground conditions;diversion of existing apparatus and laying of temporary apparatus;the provision of temporary means of enclosure and site security for construction;the temporary display of site notices or advertisements; orsite clearance (including vegetation removal, demolition of existing buildings and structures);

• “plot” means any plot as may be identified by reference to a number and which is listed in the book of reference and shown on the land plans;

• “relevant planning authority” means the local planning authority for the area in which the land to which the provisions of this Order apply is situated;

• “requirements” means those matters set out in Schedule 2 (requirements) and “requirement” means any one of the requirements;

• “statutory undertaker” means any person falling within section 127(8) (statutory undertakers’ land) of the 2008 Act and includes a public communications provider defined by section 151(1) (interpretation of chapter 1) of the Communications Act 2003[^f00024];

• “street” means a street within the meaning of section 48 (streets, street works and undertakers) of the 1991 Act, together with land on the verge of a street or between two carriageways, and includes any footpath and part of a street;

• “street authority”, in relation to a street, has the same meaning as in Part 3 of the 1991 Act[^f00025];

• “street works” means the works listed in article 8(1) (street works);

• “subsidiary” has the same meaning as in section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006[^f00026];

• “traffic authority” has the same meaning as in section 121A (traffic authorities) of the 1984 Act[^f00027];

• “traffic regulation measures plans – road closures” means the plans of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which are certified by the Secretary of State as the traffic regulation measures plans – road closures for the purposes of this Order;

• “traffic regulation measures plans – temporary measures” means the plans of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which are certified by the Secretary of State as the traffic regulation measures plans – temporary measures for the purposes of this Order;

• “undertaker” means Mallard Pass Solar Farm Limited (company number 12575861) or any person who has the benefit of this Order in accordance with articles 34 (benefit of Order) and 35 (consent to transfer benefit of the Order);

• “Upper Tribunal” means the Lands Chamber of the Upper Tribunal;

• “watercourse” includes every river, stream, creek, ditch, drain, canal, cut, culvert, dyke, sluice, sewer and passage through which water flows except a public sewer or drain;

• “working day” means any day apart from Saturday, Sunday or any statutory bank or public holiday; and

• “works plans” means the plans of that name identified in the table at Schedule 13 (documents and plans to be certified) and which are certified by the Secretary of State as the works plans for the purposes of this Order.

• (2) References in this Order to rights over land include references to rights to do or restrain or to place and maintain anything in, on or under land or in the airspace above its surface and to any trusts or incidents (including restrictive covenants) to which the land is subject and references in this Order to the imposition of restrictive covenants are references to the creation of rights over land which interfere with the interests or rights of another and are for the benefit of land which is acquired under this Order or over which rights are created and acquired under this Order or is otherwise comprised in this Order.

• (3) In this Order, references to the purposes of the authorised development includes the construction, maintenance, operation, use and decommissioning of the authorised development.

• (4) All distances, directions, capacities and lengths referred to in this Order are approximate and distances between lines or points on a numbered work comprised in the authorised development and shown on the works plans, access and rights of way plans, traffic regulation measures plans – road closures and traffic regulation measures plans – temporary measures are to be taken to be measured along that work.

• (5) References in this Order to numbered works are references to the works comprising the authorised development as numbered in Schedule 1 (authorised development) and shown on the works plans and a reference in this Order to a work designated by number.

• (6) In this Order, the expression “includes” is to be construed without limitation unless the contrary intention appears.

• (7) In this Order, references to any statutory body include that body’s successor bodies.

• (8) All areas described in square metres in the book of reference are approximate.

PART 2 — PRINCIPAL POWERS

Development consent etc. granted by this Order

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• (1) Subject to the provisions of this Order and the requirements, the undertaker is granted development consent for the authorised development to be carried out within the Order limits.

• (2) Each numbered work must be situated within the corresponding numbered area shown on the works plans and within the limits of deviation.

Operation of generating station

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• (1) The undertaker is authorised to use and operate the generating station comprised in the authorised development.

• (2) This article does not relieve the undertaker of any requirement to obtain any permit or licence under any other legislation that may be required from time to time to authorise the operation of an electricity generating station.

Power to maintain authorised development

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• (1) The undertaker may at any time maintain the authorised development.

• (2) This article only authorises the carrying out of maintenance works within the Order limits.

• (3) This article does not authorise the carrying out of any works which are likely to give rise to any materially new or materially different effects that have not been assessed in the environmental statement.

Application and modification of statutory provisions

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