East Lothian Council has formally objected to plans for what would become Scotland’s biggest solar farm, citing significant concerns over the scale of the development and inadequacies in the environmental impact assessment submitted by the developer.
Planning committee members voted unanimously on 4 November 2025 to oppose the Springfield Solar Farm and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) proposal, which would span 455 acres of agricultural land near the conservation village of Oldhamstocks, approximately 7.8 kilometres southeast of Dunbar. The decision followed a motion by Councillor Donna Collins to call the application off the delegated list due to “extreme local concerns” about the project.
Project Scale and Specifications
Voltalia UK Ltd, a French renewable energy developer founded in 2005, has applied to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit for permission to construct a solar facility with generating capacity of up to 165 megawatts alongside an 80MW battery storage system. The development would occupy 184 hectares across 20 agricultural fields, 15 of which would be covered with solar panels and associated infrastructure.
The proposal includes solar panels mounted at heights between 0.8 and 3.2 metres, a substation complex covering approximately 40 by 80 metres, and a BESS facility with a footprint of 245 by 68 metres. Voltalia estimates the installation would operate for 40 years and power the equivalent of thousands of homes, though the company has submitted the application to Scottish Ministers rather than the local authority because projects exceeding 50MW capacity require Section 36 consent under the Electricity Act 1989.
Comparative Context
If approved, Springfield would significantly exceed Scotland’s current largest solar farm. The Milltown Airfield development near Elgin in Moray, which received planning permission in 2018, covers 115 hectares and has a 50MW capacity. The East Lothian proposal would be 60% larger in land area and more than triple the generating capacity.
The project would rank as the third-largest solar farm in the United Kingdom by capacity, trailing only the 373MW Cleve Hill Solar Farm in Kent and the 165MW proposals currently in England’s planning pipeline. Scotland has dramatically lagged behind the rest of the UK in solar deployment, with only 698MW of installed capacity as of the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to England’s multi-gigawatt installations.
Community Opposition and Safety Concerns
East Lothian Council received 51 formal objections to the Springfield proposal, citing concerns including loss of productive farmland, environmental and biodiversity impacts, landscape and visual effects, and road safety issues. Local community councils, including East Lammermuir Community Council, have also objected.
Residents formed the campaign group SORELL (Save Our Rural East Lammermuir Landscape) to oppose the development. Joe and Andrew Zawinski, local residents, constructed a full-scale mock-up solar panel on Oldhamstocks Village Green to illustrate the scale of the equipment.
“We felt it was important that people realise just how huge and invasive these panels are,” they stated. “Not only will hundreds of acres be covered by the panels, there will be three-metre-high security fences surrounding each field and along large stretches of two of the three main access roads to the village. Add to that security lighting and cameras, and it will feel like we are driving through a high-security prison”.
Gordon Simpson, another local resident involved in the campaign, criticized Voltalia’s approach.
“It appears that Voltalia have taken a cavalier ‘cut-and-paste’ attitude to their proposal and their scoping report to the Energy Consents Unit and consultees,” he said. “It is full of inaccuracies, misleading statements and suggests leaving out many vital scoping exercises which will form their environmental impact assessment, such as human health impacts, major accidents and disasters as well as construction, traffic and many key environmental impacts”.
Cumulative Impact Concerns
The Springfield proposal forms part of an unprecedented wave of energy infrastructure development in the East Lammermuir area. The region faces at least 15 concurrent renewable energy projects, including the onshore works for the massive Berwick Bank offshore wind farm, multiple battery energy storage systems, and additional solar and wind developments.
East Lammermuir Community Council has repeatedly raised concerns about the cumulative impact of simultaneous construction projects on local roads, residential amenity, and the rural character of the area. The community has called for coordinated planning and cumulative impact assessments, noting that each application is currently assessed in isolation despite the concentration of proposals.
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Battery energy storage systems have raised particular safety concerns following fires at BESS facilities under construction in Rothienorman, Aberdeenshire, and Tilbury, Essex, in February 2025. These incidents prompted calls for mandatory safety guidance regarding BESS proximity to residential properties, schools, and community facilities.
As East Lothian Council has raised significant concerns in its statutory consultee role, Scottish Ministers are now likely to order a Public Inquiry before making a determination on the application. The Energy Consents Unit has published the application documents under reference ECU00004815 and invited public representations, with formal consultation periods having closed earlier in 2025.
The outcome will have implications for Scotland’s renewable energy ambitions and could set precedent for how community concerns, agricultural land protection, and net zero targets are balanced in future large-scale solar proposals across the country.
