Planning application · Solar · Bedford

Elstow Landfill Site

Under Construction5.5 MWApplication 20/01987/FULWMSubmitted 10 September 2020Granted 30 November 2020

In the evidence packnearest refused scheme •• kmShown in the pack

The application

Application number: 20/01987/FULWM
Planning authority: Bedford
County or area: Norfolk
Nation: England
Technology: Solar
Capacity: 5.5 MW
Status: Under Construction
Operator or applicant: Bedford Borough Council
Location: Elstow Landfill Site, Wilstead Road, Elstow, Bedford, MK42 9YU

Timeline

10 September 2020 Planning application submitted
30 November 2020 Planning permission granted
20 December 2021 Construction started
30 November 2023 Planning permission expired

Preview of the planning evidence pack for this site

The pack for this site lists 89 comparable solar incidents in the United Kingdom, nearest first. The nearest is EIR-1493, Solar panels catch fire on Bedford warehouse roof, 4.1 km from this site.

Reference	Year	Incident	From the site	Severity
EIR-1493	2026	Solar panels catch fire on Bedford warehouse roof	4.1 km	Minor
EIR-1448	2026	Roof fire at new-build house with solar panels in Wellingborough	24 km	Significant
EIR-1545	2024	Fire involving solar panels on a building under construction in Kettering	34 km	Minor
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The first 3 rows as the pack shows them. The other 86 are in the pack, each with its distance, sources and the fire service guidance it bears on.

The map

Summary for this site

This part of the pack is written for this site and opens with the pack. This part of the pack is written for this site and opens with the pack. This part of the pack is written for this site and opens with the pack.

Paragraphs for the planning statement

In the full pack

What the planning evidence pack adds for this application

The pack is made for Elstow Landfill Site from the register and the government planning database: every comparable incident, nearest first, with its sources; the schemes refused, withdrawn or taken to appeal within 40 km, your council first; and the fire service guidance each incident bears on. One fixed, dated file, as a PDF, a web page and a Word document.

Incidents within 50 km: •••
Nearest recorded incident: ••••••
UK grid-scale incidents, with NFCC notes: ••••
Schemes refused within 40 km: •••
Nearest refused scheme: ••••••••••••
Appeals within 40 km: •••
Decisions in Bedford: ••••••••
Sites of a similar size, worldwide: ••••
NFCC guidance points: ••••••••
Sources and citations: ••••••••••

Launch price: £145 until 31 October (normally £295). By email in minutes. The order form arrives filled in from this application.

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Want to see a pack first? Download a sample pack (PDF). It is an example pack for a 50 MW battery project in Lincolnshire, with every section and the first rows of each table.

The site's own page has its map, the energy sites around it and anyone can follow it for changes. Every planning application. Every application in Bedford.

Data updated 3 August 2026 from the Renewable Energy Planning Database (DESNZ), published quarterly.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (Renewable Energy Planning Database, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero). The dataset. The register adds only the incidents and the counts.