Decision on £600m Sunnica Energy Farm delayed until April

The solar farm would be spread across three sites in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire

The government has delayed a decision on a controversial £600m solar farm for a third time.

The proposed Sunnica Energy Farm on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border would span about 2,500 acres across both counties.

Claire Coutinho, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, set a new decision deadline "of no later than 11 April 2024".

Sunnica has been approached for comment.

'Wrong location'

The project, which would be one of the largest in Europe, had previously been criticised for being "wholly out of character" with the surrounding areas.

Following the announcement, the independent MP for West Suffolk Matt Hancock said: "Delaying the Sunnica decision again is disappointing.

"I am a strong supporter of solar energy but the Sunnica development is in completely the wrong location. It needs to be rejected and the developers need to think again."

The energy farm would be split across three separate sites: Sunnica East Site A, near West Row and Mildenhall, Sunnica East Site B, south of the village of Worlington, and Sunnica West Site A, near Newmarket, north of the A14.

Each site would be connected by underground cables to each other and to the National Grid at Burwell substation.

The company claimed the solar farm would power 172,000 homes, create 1,500 jobs during construction and 27 full time jobs running the farm once completed.

It added the solar farm would have a lifespan of 40-years and the land used would be decontaminated and returned to its original - largely agricultural - use once the scheme had finished.

East Cambridgeshire and Suffolk County Councils both opposed the plans.