Successful first meeting for West Yorkshire solar energy project’s community construction panel

A panel of local representatives that will guide the construction of a new West Yorkshire solar energy project has had a successful first meeting.

Leading renewables developer OnPath Energy is currently building the Barnsdale Solar Park on a 50-hectare site between Kippax and Allerton Bywater to the east of Leeds.

The construction panel will meet every two months and has been formed to enable OnPath Energy to provide updates to the local community about the progress being made on site, as well as to allow the panel members to bring any queries, ideas or concerns directly to the project team’s attention.

The panel includes Leeds City Council leader and West Yorkshire deputy mayor Cllr James Lewis, who visited the Barnsdale Solar site over the summer to mark the formal commencement of work, as well as members of Allerton Bywater, Kippax and Kippax & Methley Parish Councils and other local residents.

Barnsdale is OnPath Energy’s first solar energy project and is scheduled to be connected to the National Grid via the nearby Ledston Primary electricity sub-station next spring.

The first green energy is then scheduled to be produced later that year, with the project designed to generate enough electricity to meet the average annual requirements of up to 13,000 family homes. 

Alongside this, Barnsdale Solar Park’s detailed ecology and biodiversity strategy will also see the biggest increase in biodiversity for any renewable energy project within Leeds to date.

It includes extensive wildflower meadows, wetland habitat, native trees, scrub and hedgerow planting, and will achieve a biodiversity net gain of 106%, which is more than ten times the expected outcome for a project of this type.

As part of OnPath Energy’s OnPath Together development approach, over £800,000 of the revenues generated by Barnsdale will be directed into a community fund supporting local community groups, voluntary organisations and environmental projects over its lifetime.

A community panel will be formed next year which will allow local people to be involved in the decision-making process around where this funding should be directed.

Councillor James Lewis, leader of Leeds City Council,says: “Projects such as this one are fundamental to reducing our reliance on non-renewable energy sources and I am very pleased with the progress that has already been made on site.

Next year will see a community panel formed where local people will be able to influence how the community fund which forms part of the project will be spent to ensure it provides the maximum benefit for the local area.”

Councilor James Lewis, Leader of Leeds City Council

Barnsdale is one of two solar energy projects that OnPath Energy is undertaking in Yorkshire, with preparatory work now underway at the Common Farm Solar Park near Dinnington in South Yorkshire.

Tom Chaplin, community and partnerships manager at OnPath Energy, adds: “Involving local people in the design, construction and delivery of all our projects is a core part of the OnPath Together development approach that we take.

“The Barnsdale Solar construction panel will help ensure open, direct lines of communication are maintained between our project team and the surrounding communities, and we’re very pleased to have so many local representatives involved.

“Construction is on schedule at the Barnsdale Solar site and we’re well on the way to delivering the environmental, ecological, energy security and social benefits to local communities and the wider region that it will provide.”

Local residents, businesses, and community groups can find out more about the Barnsdale Solar Park by visiting www.onpathenergy.com/barnsdale