Twynersh Solar Charge, Chertsey
Public Consultation
Come to Chertsey’s finest gastropub The Golden Grove on Thursday 17 October 12:00 to 20:00 and maybe enjoy a wee drink while learning about our solar project.
A special thank you to The Golden Grove for providing us the space to present our proposals.
Introduction
A new Solar Farm is proposed to provide clean energy for an Electric Vehicle Charging Facility. The scheme will be located on land to the north of Pyrcroft Grange Primary School, Twynersh.
Before the application is finalised for submission to Runnymede Borough Council, we are seeking the views of the community on our draft proposals.
This public consultation website has been created to illustrate the draft proposals to the local community and gather feedback. Please note the proposals are a relatively early draft at this stage, and the preparatory work is still ongoing.
In addition to this website, we are holding a drop-in event on Thursday 17th October 2024 at the Golden Grove Pub St Ann's Hill, KT16 9EN between 12:00 and 20:00. Roger Mugford, the person with the vision behind Solar Charge, will be in attendance to answer any questions you may have alongside a small group of technical experts. All are welcome to attend.
Location
The proposed scheme at Twynersh Meadows will be located alongside the A320 Chertsey-Staines Road at the Twynersh roundabout.
Access will be via St Ann's Road to the south, opposite Pyrcroft Primary School.
The Proposal
The proposed development is for a clean energy scheme with the following components:
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Fixed Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels to a maximum height of 3m from the ground, arranged on a simple framework facing south, with battery storage to enable the consistent delivery of power.
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An Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station, comprising the latest 'rapid' or 'ultra rapid' charging points for around 5 vehicles, with the ability of adding additional points as demand increases.
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Habitat enhancement and ecological mitigations to achieve at least 10% net gain in biodiversity across the site.
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Landscaping to mitigate any visual impacts of the scheme, including planting along boundaries.
The applicant will be offering local benefits as part of the scheme, including reduced EV charging rates for KT16 residents, improved access for walkers (and their dogs!) to the St Ann’s Hill Nature Reserve, and a small roadside refreshment pod for EV owners, which will become a stop-off point for the many weekend cyclists who visit the area.
Technical Work
The application will be accompanied by a number of technical documents to demonstrate the suitability of the proposals, relating to matters including Landscape, Drainage, Heritage and Highways.
Once submitted, all of the technical information will be assessed by the Council's teams to ensure compliance with local and national policies.
Landscape
The principles of the proposed layout have been informed by the landscape works undertaken to-date, and include:
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Utilising the existing screening provided by the established vegetation to the site boundaries, and to manage this to maximise the screening of the proposed development.
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No solar panels in the western field, which is more prominent in the landscape.
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Maintenance and enhancement of the existing vegetation on-site, including 'gapping-up' of existing hedges.
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Ensuring no loss of existing trees, unless necessary for long-term arboricultural quality.
A Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment is being prepared to support the application.
Drainage
The southern part of the site is prone to seasonal flooding, which will be dealt with on-site, through a combination of drainage features and design mitigations. The site will be appropriately designed to ensure that it is safe from flood risk and will not increase the risk of flooding elsewhere, in accordance with Environment Agency and Lead Local Flood Authority requirement.
Highways
Access for the EV chargers and café pod will be provided via a new priority junction with St Ann's Road. The proposed design has considered existing parking taking place on St Ann’s Road during school term time. We are considering the potential to provide ‘pick up and drop off’ parking spaces and would welcome thoughts on whether this would be considered a benefit.
The St Ann’s Road access will be utilised for maintenance during the operational phase of the solar farm.
Highways
The site is located close to St Ann’s Hill and other heritage assets. The proposal will not have any direct impact on these assets which will be demonstrated by a Heritage Assessment to be submitted with the planning application. Preliminary archaeological works have also been undertaken, which have not identified any remains of interest within the site itself.
Climate & The Environment
The proposed development will power the new electric vehicle chargers, with any excess electricity being exported to the grid. There is a clear need to significantly expand the EV charging network across the UK to meet existing and anticipated demand.
Climate change is affecting everything we do, whether living in a fire-ravaged Brazilian rainforest, a drought-ridden African savanna, or even here in Chertsey. Last year, Chertsey hit national headlines as being the hottest place in the UK (September 7th, 32.6°C), and the flooding of the meadows at Twynersh was the worst ever, lasting for 5 months from November 2023 to spring 2024.
On September 6th, 2024, the respected Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that 2024 has been the hottest northern hemisphere summer EVER. Scarily, the worsening trend is set to continue and will take Planet Earth well beyond the 1.5°C target set by the 2016 UN Climate Convention Meeting in Paris.
THIS IS THE TIME FOR ACTION by all of us - at a personal level, by wider society (i.e. governments), and by businesses. The new Labour government is prioritising the UK’s transition from carbon-based energy generation towards renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and tidal. This will determine how we heat our homes (less gas, more air/ground source) and how we power our transport (less petrol and diesel, more
electric vehicles).
Comments
A public drop-in event is being held on the
17th of October
between
12:00 and 20:00
at the Golden Grove Pub, St Ann's Hill
The event will be attended by the applicant, Roger Mugford, and a small team of experts who have delivered solar and roadside schemes in the past and are on hand to answer any questions you may have on the initial proposals.
If you cannot attend the event, please share your thoughts using the form below, or by email to:
Twynersh-solar@pegasusgroup.co.uk
The deadline for comments is the 15th of November 2024.
We look forward to hearing from you!