Whitehall has issued a correction order for the Byers Gill Solar scheme, tidying up drafting errors in the original development consent for the 180MW site straddling Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees. The order was made on Friday 24 October and took legal effect on Monday 27 October 2025, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has confirmed.

Signed by John Wheadon, head of energy infrastructure planning and innovation at DESNZ, the four-page instrument cleans up cross-references in Articles 10, 13 and 14, fixes bracketed text, and standardises wording in Schedule 5 from “public rights of way to be permanently closed” to “public rights of way to be permanently stopped up”. The schedule lists text edits only.

This is a routine step under paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Planning Act 2008, which lets ministers correct mistakes discovered after a Development Consent Order is made. In this case the applicant sought corrections within the statutory period and DESNZ notified the relevant local planning authorities before making the order.

The underlying Byers Gill Solar Order was made on 23 July and came into force on 14 August 2025. The made order sets out how the consent operates and where the certified plans and book of reference can be viewed locally.

The scheme covers roughly 490 hectares between Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees and falls across three authorities: Darlington Borough Council, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and Durham County Council. The consented project includes six panel areas, on-site substation, battery storage and underground cabling.

DESNZ records a minimum output of 180MW for the project, with cable connections to the existing National Grid substation at Norton. RWE has said it intends to pair the solar array with a 180MW battery so energy can be stored and released at peak times, subject to a final investment decision.

“Byers Gill is our largest consented co-located solar and battery storage project in the UK,” said Adam Swarbrick, RWE’s UK head of solar and storage, after the summer approval. The company says the next step is an internal investment decision.

Locally, documents can be inspected at the councils named in the made order, including Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees and Durham. Residents and businesses can use those certified plans to check land parcels, access and construction phases.

Rights of way remain a live topic for walkers and landowners. The correction order switches the wording in Schedule 5 to the standard legal term “stopped up” and adjusts numbering; it does not set out new paths to add or remove. Anyone concerned should check Schedule 5 in the made order alongside the new correction.