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The fate of a £1 billion solar farm earmarked for the Norfolk countryside could become clearer when hearings resume next week.
The second round of hearings examining the East Pye solar farm will take place at Mercure Norwich Hotel in Boundary Road.
It will help to determine whether the 2,700-acre solar farm should be built on land across south Norfolk, and follows the first round of discussions in September.
The hearings will take place at the Mercure Norwich Hotel (Image: Google Maps)
The arrays of panels will stretch from Tivetshall and Great Moulton in the west to Seething in the east, impacting villages including Hempnall, Saxlingham, Shotesham and Woodton.
The first session at 4pm on Tuesday will be a preliminary hearing, where people registered to speak can make their views on the project heard.
So far, 22 people have asked to speak.
A map of where the East Pye solar farm (Image: East Pye)
Wednesday’s hearing will consider compulsory acquisition and the temporary possession of land.
The hearing will assess whether compulsory acquisition is in the public interest.
The applicant, East Pye, will be asked to present its case for compulsory acquisition.
Site inspections will also take place next week, with Tibenham Airfield among the locations to be visited.
Aviation experts say the scheme, a mile from the airfield, poses serious safety risks and could endanger lives.
Officials will take the unusual step of visiting homes during the inspections.
More hearings are planned for December, before the examination ends in February next year.
After that, David Cliff, the planning inspectorate, will have three months to make a recommendation to Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary.
Due to its size, the project is classed as nationally significant, meaning the government has the final say on the scheme.
Almost 2,000 members of the public have made representations about the plans, many of them opposing the development.
Developer Island Green Power says the scheme could generate up to 500 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 115,000 homes a year.
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