Good Afternoon,
We wanted to provide you with an important update on our campaign to oppose the proposed solar panel development at Ridley.
As expected, Evolution Power (EP), trading as EPL Newco3 Limited, submitted their Planning Application to Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) on 23rd December 2024 via their Planning Consultant. Anticipating this, we promptly contacted the Chief Officer for Planning & Regulatory Services at SDC and secured his assurance that the public consultation process would not begin until after the New Year.
Before any application progresses, it must pass SDC's Validation process and appear on their Planning Portal to trigger the public consultation phase. The initial application, submitted just before Christmas, failed validation due to missing key information and being incomplete.
On 19th January 2025, a notice in the Sevenoaks Chronicle announced that a revised application had been submitted. However, as of 22nd January, this revised application has not yet started the Validation process. Rest assured, we will notify you as soon as the application appears on the Planning Portal and will share detailed guidance on how to submit written objections to SDC.
In a related development, our MP, Tom Tugendhat, has been investigating the origins of the solar panels proposed by EP. He is particularly concerned about the potential involvement of slave or forced labour in their manufacturing—a known issue in some Chinese factories. His efforts to seek transparency have included direct communication with EP and inquiries with the Chinese Government, which have escalated to the point where he has now been denied entry into China. Unfortunately, EP has so far refused to provide the requested clarification (email
Good Evening,
We wanted to provide you with an important update on our campaign to oppose the proposed solar panel development at Ridley.
As expected, Evolution Power (EP), trading as EPL Newco3 Limited, submitted their Planning Application to Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) on 23rd December 2024 via their Planning Consultant. Anticipating this, we promptly contacted the Chief Officer for Planning & Regulatory Services at SDC and secured his assurance that the public consultation process would not begin until after the New Year.
Before any application progresses, it must pass SDC's Validation process and appear on their Planning Portal to trigger the public consultation phase. The initial application, submitted just before Christmas, failed validation due to missing key information and being incomplete.
On 19th January 2025, a notice in the Sevenoaks Chronicle announced that a revised application had been submitted. However, as of 22nd January, this revised application has not yet started the Validation process. Rest assured, we will notify you as soon as the application appears on the Planning Portal and will share detailed guidance on how to submit written objections to SDC.
In a related development, our MP, Tom Tugendhat, has been investigating the origins of the solar panels proposed by EP. He is particularly concerned about the potential involvement of slave or forced labour in their manufacturing—a known issue in some Chinese factories. His efforts to seek transparency have included direct communication with EP and inquiries with the Chinese Government, which have escalated to the point where he has now been denied entry into China. Unfortunately, EP has so far refused to provide the requested clarification (see info@no-nags.co.uk for copies of the correspondence).
We are incredibly grateful for your continued support and commitment to this campaign. We’ll keep you updated as soon as there are further developments.
Kind regards