North of Burtree Lane in Darlington, a 59-hectare solar farm is under construction. The applicant entry is unusual: in the REPD record, Darlington council (Darlington Borough Council) is named alongside Aura Power Solar. The project won a Contract for Difference in round AR5, and construction has been listed since 1 July 2025.
How the permission went
The application was submitted on 23 March 2022, and the council granted planning permission on 11 January 2023. That took 42 weeks, though the council usually manages 12.3 weeks: of the 21 applications it has decided, only one was refused, and there were no refusals at all among the 17 solar ones.
The solar cluster north of the town
At 49.9 MW, Burtree Lane is not the only one in the area. 7.2 km away, Byers Gill Solar Farm at 180 MW is approved, not built; 6.3 km away, Whinfield at 33 MW is in the same position; and the 12 MW Moor House wind farm is operational. For projects around your own street, see the DL3 district page. The Burtree Lane record was last updated on 25 March 2026, and the statuses reflect the July 2026 extract.