Woodside Solar - PACE Community Portal
Pathfinder Clean Energy (PACE) is proposing a renewable energy scheme, known as Woodside Solar, on new solar farm in North Warwickshire, on land off Linden Lane, Warton, Tamworth, B79 0HH.
UPDATE: March 2025 In February 2024, we undertook a public consultation and since then have we been revising our proposals. Originally, the grid connection was to be at National Grid’s Hams Hall Substation and any grid connection works would have been undertaken as a separate planning application. However, we are now looking to connect at the grid point of connection at Kisses Barn farm, Kisses Farm Lane, Tamworth B79 0JH and will be submitting one application to North Warwickshire Council, which would cover both the solar site and the cable route connecting the site to the grid. We are looking to submit an application in April 2025, and we will update the website when the application is submitted. North Warwickshire Council will then undertake its own period of consultation where you’ll be able to comment on the application.
The project would have a maximum power output of 18.50MW of renewable energy – the equivalent of powering 8002 homes a year and cutting 5,410 tonnes of carbon emissions a year.
The development would also diversify the existing farm operation to sustain agricultural production on the wider farm landholding.
We know in light of extreme heat, wildfires and flooding across Europe that climate change is having an impact now. North Warwickshire council have set a target for the council’s activities to be net-zero carbon by 2030. This is in line with the government’s target to be net zero on all greenhouse gases by 2050.
Solar farms, such as Woodside Solar, are a key part of tackling the climate emergency and will form the backbone of the new zero carbon energy system.
This website contains details of our proposals. In summary:
Pathfinder Clean Energy brings together experience from the development, construction and operation of over 1GW of clean energy projects. This allows us to bring the latest best practices, technical solutions and innovation to our projects.
PACE is headquartered in the UK and is committed to a sustainable future. We are working to create low-carbon energy to the benefit of the environment and the community. Whilst having a vision to develop solar energy projects that meet the UK’s need for clean electricity, while working with communities to leave positive and lasting legacies for people and wildlife locally. .
Our team includes ecologists, landscape and heritage specialists who help us to create environmentally friendly solar farms.
The proposed solar farm is located on land off Linden Lane, Warton, Tamworth, B79 0HH. The settlement of Polesworth is to the south-west of the site and the settlement of Shuttington is to the north-west.
The PV arrays will be ground mounted in south facing rows. They will not exceed 3.4m in height. Solar farms are becoming a common feature in the British landscape. They use photovoltaic (PV) panels to generate energy from daylight and distribute it to homes and businesses.
They are necessary because coal power stations are closing and climate change commitments require big increases in renewable energy.
Solar farms produce home grown energy which contributes to the UK becoming energy independent and reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels. This is particularly important as demand for electricity for electric vehicles and heating grows.
To meet the government’s net zero and climate change targets as set out in Make Britain a clean energy superpower (2024), boosting our solar energy capacity is essential. We need to get large amounts of renewable energy in the system to help ensure energy security and combat climate change. Published in November 2024, Clean Power 2030 proposes a trebling of solar from 15 GW to 45-47 GW by 2030.
The development will generate very little noise and will not be heard outside of the site. At the end of its 40 year operational life, the site will be completely restored.
The proposed point of connection is at Kisses Barn farm, Kisses Farm Lane, Tamworth B79 0JS via underground cables.
Access to the site will be obtained from Linden Lane via an existing site access junction connected to a farm access track, located to the southwest of the site. This access would serve the site development areas via the existing farm access tracks, proposed new access tracks and temporary site compound areas
The layout of the internal access tracks will enable the transportation of construction materials and solar panel components around the site. During the construction and decommissioning phases, temporary personnel units will be located within the site compounds providing space for the site office and staff welfare facilities.
An additional temporary access point would be created during the construction phase of the cable routes on Kisses Barn Lane and Linden Lane. The short construction period (eight - nine months) means that any disturbance to residents would be kept to a minimum.
Woodside solar farm will have the capacity to generate 18.50 megawatts of clean, renewable energy which will power the equivalent of over 8,002 households each year.
Solar power has become one of the most cost effective energy sources available. Therefore, it will be built without public subsidies.
Solar farms take up a very small proportion of the land they occupy, leaving huge scope for biodiversity. Research has shown they improve the diversity and abundance of broad leaved plants, grasses, butterflies, bumblebees and birds, including those with conservation status.
Agricultural land will not be lost. Small livestock, such as sheep, can graze under and around the solar panels during operation, providing a dual benefit of agriculture and energy generation. The reduction in intensive agriculture and chemical fertilisers will naturally improve the quality of the soils, leaving them in a better condition at the end of the life of the solar farm.
The rapid construction time provides faster access to renewable power and lowers the nation’s carbon footprint, without creating harmful emissions or noise outside of the solar farm.
Engaging with the community is important to us and in February 2024 we welcomed your feedback on our proposals.
Since then, we have been revising our proposals and are looking to submit an application in April 2025 to North Warwickshire Council. The council will then undertake its own period of consultation where you’ll be able to comment on the application.
It takes the council approximately 13 weeks to decide the application. If approved, further design and management details usually need to be agreed before we can start building, such as construction management and ecological management plans.
PACE will then construct the solar farm. Most deliveries are completed in the first six weeks of a construction period that usually lasts 20-25 weeks.
For frequently asked questions, please take a look at the following briefing, published by Solar Energy UK; a trade association for the UK solar sector.
If you have any queries regarding solar power or would like additional information, please contact the community relations team.
We commissioned a comprehensive set of surveys to help determine the site area and layout, so that impacts on residents could be minimised, and to identify opportunities for improving the proposals.
The surveys include: