Shock at £22k planning fee for solar farm development

Those involved in the project were shocked to see the cost for their planning application leap from the £4,000 they expected when they started the process in 2022 to £22,000 when it came to making the application.

Tom Bourgaize from the Drawing Room has been working on the unusual project, which could see rows of solar panels placed on the greenhouse site in Les Abreuveurs Road.

‘The fees were reviewed mid-application, so we submitted it with the £4,000 fee,’ he said.

‘But some procedural matters with the application meant it was not registered until the fees increased, so they asked for the difference to take it up to £22,000.

‘Fortunately our clients were not put off by this, but we are concerned this could deter glasshouse owners for this type of renewable energy project.’

The planning application fee category for large-scale renewable energy generation is a new one and it is calculated based on the size of a site.

A Planning Service spokesman confirmed the fee was £310 for each 500sq. m, so it was proportionate to the scale of a scheme.

‘Lower fees would not cover the anticipated costs for assessment and consideration of the application, which would mean that the cost would be effectively passed onto the taxpayer, instead of the developer,’ he said.

‘There isn’t currently any work under way to review the amended fees, which were only introduced this year.’

Mr Bourgaize said this was the highest planning application fee his firm had ever paid and he was surprised at the figure. He contacted deputies to challenge the fee. Environment & Infrastructure president Lindsay de Sausmarez, whose committee is responsible to responding to climate change in Guernsey, told him she was looking into it.

She said yesterday that she welcomed the ‘significant solar development’, but said that planning fees were not under her control or influence.

Mr Bourgaize said in this case they were only using about half of the site for panels – as there are ancillary buildings and field edges – but they were being charged for the full area.

He suggested that the fee could be calculated based on the expected power output from the site rather than the complete area. But he also questioned if fees should be further reduced for renewable energy projects, which would benefit the environment.

There are already application fee breaks in some areas, such as for States bodies and charities.

The current fee level was equal to what would be paid for an application for a block of 48 flats, Mr Bourgaize said.

‘I think if it was flats, it would be a lot more work for the planning officers. It is expensive compared to other types of development.’

He added that planning officers had been helpful and supportive during the lengthy application process.

But Mr Bourgaize said this was already an expensive scheme and he feared that the high planning costs could deter others from doing it.

‘I think this fee needs to change if Guernsey is to encourage renewable energy proposals,’ he said.