Ethical Power is delighted to announce that planning permission has been granted for the Cobham Road Solar Park, a 49.5 MW utility-scale solar PV project on land east of Cobham Road, Fetcham, Surrey.
The decision, issued by a Government Planning Inspector, follows a 5-day hearing by Public Inquiry. The planning application was initially refused in April 2025 at committee, where Mole Valley District Councillors overturned a positive officer recommendation.
The Inspector agreed with the case put forward by the Appeal team that the scheme demonstrated substantial benefits. This ruling underscores the weight that national sustainable energy policy now carries in the planning system, reinforcing the direction set by the Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.
Once operational, Cobham Road Solar Park will:
- Generate 49.5 MW of clean electricity, enough to power approximately 13,351 homes every year
- Deliver a saving of approximately 6,221 tonnes of CO₂ per annum, the equivalent of removing 1,256 cars from the road
- Operate for 40 years, after which the land will be fully restored to agricultural use
- Support continued agricultural use during its operational life through sheep grazing on site
- Establish a Community Benefit Fund to support local priorities
The project also incorporates an extensive biodiversity package, including:
- 78% biodiversity net gain in habitat units, far exceeding the national 10% minimum and Mole Valley’s 20% local requirement
- 04% net gain in hedgerow units, comprising 2.6 km of new species-rich hedgerow with native trees
- 124 acres of enhanced species-rich grassland within the panel arrays
- Habitat features for bats, birds, amphibians, and reptiles throughout the site
Jeff Dummett, Head of Development at Ethical Power, said:
“We are delighted that our scheme at Cobham Road has achieved planning consent, the culmination of years of hard work from multiple team members from development, design, legal, grid and many more. The appeal team gave the Inquiry the best possible chance of success, and a great deal of thanks and praise must go to everyone who produced evidence, guided strategy and fulfilled the challenging role of expert witness.
The project is now ready to be taken forward for a pre-2030 connection, in a highly land-constrained area where opportunities to deploy renewables at sufficient scale are limited with a genuine lack of alternative sites.”