Burwell parish councillors spoke of "significant frustration", and that is the mood hanging over the latest Whitehall move on Sunnica. The Secretary of State has approved a non-material amendment to the Sunnica Energy Farm order, a legal change tied to the scheme's connection into Burwell substation rather than a fresh fight over the whole project, which stretches across East Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk. (nsip-documents.planninginspectorate.gov.uk)

According to Sunnica's November 2025 application papers, the route used here is the Schedule 6 non-material change process under the Planning Act 2008. In plain English, ministers have not reopened the Development Consent Order; they have swapped in newer certified plans and documents that now carry the legal weight for delivery. (sunnica.co.uk) The draft amendment published with that application shows exactly what changed: updated access and rights of way plans, a new book of reference, revised works plans, revised temporary road closure plans and an updated sheet of the land and Crown land plans. The original Sunnica order was granted on 12 July 2024 and later corrected in November 2024, so these drawings matter once construction moves closer. (sunnica.co.uk)

Sunnica says the trigger was a roughly 2-hectare extension to the existing Burwell National Grid substation, land the developer describes as already hardstanding. The company asked for the order limits to be widened to include that additional land so cabling could be relocated within the substation area, while also saying no extra compulsory acquisition powers were being sought. (sunnica.co.uk) The same papers say National Grid Electricity Transmission was supportive. On paper, then, this is a small fix to keep the grid connection workable, not a rewrite of the solar farm itself. (sunnica.co.uk)

But small on paper does not always feel small in a village hall. Burwell Parish Council told the Planning Inspectorate it could not offer an "informed or meaningful response" because questions around the substation connection were still unresolved, and said a Sunnica webinar left councillors short of clear answers, not helped by the absence of a National Grid representative. (nsip-documents.planninginspectorate.gov.uk) A local objector, Adam Singleton, went further, calling the move "scope creep" and warning that Burwell was being asked to absorb more industrial pressure by degrees. Ministers nevertheless decided the proposal could go through the non-material route after considering the application and the consultation responses. (nsip-documents.planninginspectorate.gov.uk)

The wider scheme remains huge by any ordinary standard. On its website, Sunnica says the project would sit across three sites in East Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk, connect into Burwell, and deliver up to 500MW of renewable electricity, enough in the developer's estimate for about 100,000 homes. (sunnica.co.uk) That is why this matters beyond one patch of East Anglia. Government guidance says a Development Consent Order can be changed through either a material or non-material process, and Sunnica is a good example of how a narrow legal amendment can still raise wider questions about trust, clarity and local control around nationally significant energy schemes. (infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk)

Sunnica's homepage says the project is now moving towards implementation and, in April 2026, the developer issued a call for suppliers as it looked ahead to construction. For firms that want a slice of the work, and for communities that will live with the build, this amendment is not just filing-cabinet stuff; it sits in the handover between consent and diggers on the ground. (sunnica.co.uk) The geography here may be Cambridgeshire and Suffolk rather than Yorkshire or Lancashire, but northern councils and campaigners will know the type of row. When Whitehall says a change is minor, people on the doorstep still want to see exactly what has moved, why it has moved and who was properly in the room when the answer was given. (infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk)