Dean Moor Solar Farm in Cumbria has successfully moved through the development consent order (DCO) planning process following a positive decision by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on 2 July 2026. Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, provided leadership on planning and environmental matters, working alongside the teams at TLT, Ardent Management, and Alpaca Communications to develop the DCO submission.
The development between the villages of Gilgarran and Branthwaite is a joint-venture project by FVS Dean Moor Limited; it is backed by renewable energy development specialists ib vogt and Firma Energy. The development will have a generating capacity of up to 150 megawatts, providing enough clean energy to power approximately 50,000 average family homes every year.
Early engagement to shape a robust and responsive design
Stantec teams led the consenting strategy and environmental assessments while working closely with the applicant and the project’s legal advisors and communications team throughout the planning and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. Stantec provided comprehensive, interdisciplinary services for the DCO, delivering planning, environmental, and technical inputs across specialist areas including landscape, ecology, arboriculture, heritage, hydrology, ground conditions, noise, and transport.
A key driver of the project’s success came from Stantec’s leadership in proactive engagement with stakeholders, particularly with Cumberland Council and Lake District National Park as part of a landscape-led design strategy. This enabled potential issues to be addressed from the outset and was supported by ongoing engagement with statutory and non-statutory bodies, communities, and other stakeholders.
This led to a responsive design and reduced consenting risk. The EIA was also front-loaded through detailed scoping information. This helped secure a proportionate assessment scope and avoided unnecessary scrutiny of matters where significant effects were not likely. Good design, effective engagement, and proactive problem-solving supported an efficient DCO examination with minimal amendments and early timely agreement of all matters for Statements of Common Ground.
Rachel Jacobson, lead planner for ib vogt, said: “Dean Moor Solar Farm benefited significantly from Stantec’s depth of DCO experience and the quality of their planners and environmental experts. The collaborative ‘one team’ way of working between planning, legal, and communications teams supported a positive engagement strategy that has been key to the project’s success. This would not have been possible without Stantec’s technical excellence, which provided stakeholders with confidence and enabled widespread support.”
Working closely with Stantec’s planning and environmental professionals, the legal team at TLT played a critical role in shaping and refining the DCO strategy, drafting the DCO, undertaking the advocacy at hearings, and providing extensive legal oversight and strategic input at each stage. Stantec and TLT maintained a continuous dialogue, meeting regularly and reviewing documentation iteratively to make sure it met the rigorous legal and procedural requirements of the DCO and EIA regimes.
Moving the scheme forward collaboratively and efficiently
“Our integrated way of working enabled our teams to drive this clean energy project forward collaboratively for our client, resulting in a robust and well-coordinated successful submission,” said Robert Devas, director of environmental planning for Stantec in the UK. “Our multidisciplinary approach to this DCO application helped create an environment in which bringing communities and stakeholders along with the design process was treated as a central objective rather than an afterthought. Dean Moor Solar Farm will contribute significantly to the UK’s sustainability goals, while being responsibly planned and designed in relation to the local environment and communities.”
A vital renewable energy scheme
Richard Marsh, TLT’s project lead partner on Dean Moor, added: “Delivering projects of this scale and significance requires a genuinely collaborative approach between all disciplines within and beyond the project team. Our TLT team worked seamlessly with the client, Stantec, and the wider team throughout the process to produce high-quality application and examination documents, successfully engage with various environmental, utility, and community representatives, and act to reduce consenting risk at all times.
“Having delivered scores of fully implementable DCOs across all sectors, I can safely state that a collaborative, open-minded and affable team is key to a successful DCO planning process. We thoroughly enjoyed working alongside Stantec and the rest of the project team to help deliver this consent and a vital renewable energy project that will contribute towards the UK’s Net Zero targets.”
Over the past year, Stantec’s Major Infrastructure team has reinforced its position as one of the UK’s leading advisers on DCOs and planning for renewable energy development, successfully progressing projects exceeding 2.5 gigawatts of low-carbon energy through the planning and consenting process.
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