Renewable planning › Solar › East Lothian
Solar planning in East Lothian
East Lothian has decided 6 solar farms and approved 100% of them, taking a median of 1.8 months to decide. Consented capacity: 3 MW.
⚠️ Small caseload (6 decided). Percentages here move a lot with one more decision — read them as indicative, not as a reliable rate.
How East Lothian compares
Against the 298 UK authorities with 5+ solar decisions, East Lothian sits in the 77th percentile for approval rate (7 points above the England average) and the 74th percentile for speed.
Decisions by year
Solar decisions by the year the decision was issued (Renewable Energy Planning Database). Withdrawn and still-undecided applications are excluded, so a short bar can mean a quiet year rather than a strict council.
Every recorded scheme (6)
| Scheme | MW | Status | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|
Smeaton Nursery Garden, Smeaton - Solar Panels Smeaton Estate · 25/00119/P · 1.8 mo to decide | 0.15 | Awaiting Construction | 2025-04-09 |
Meadow Stores, Ormiston - Solar Panels Cefetra Limited · 24/00822/P · 1.9 mo to decide | 0.24 | Awaiting Construction | 2024-11-01 |
Seton Sands, Holiday Village - Solar Panels Bourne Leisure Limited · 23/00396/P · 1 mo to decide | 0.17 | Awaiting Construction | 2023-06-29 |
Dunbar Waste Water Treatment Works, Beltonford Hedderwick - Solar Panels Scottish Water · 22/01317/P · 1.4 mo to decide | 0.26 | Awaiting Construction | 2023-01-10 |
Howden Farm Howden Eggs · 20/00238/P · 1.7 mo to decide | 0.2 | Operational | 2020-04-27 |
Dunbar Energy Park Hallhill Developments · 11/00868/PM · 5.1 mo to decide | 2 | Planning Permission Expired | 2012-03-07 |
Does East Lothian approve solar farms?
Yes — of the 6 solar farms East Lothian has decided, 100% were approved (6 granted, 0 refused). The UK-wide rate for solar is 93%. Note this is a small caseload, so treat the percentage as indicative rather than statistically robust.
How long does a solar farm application take in East Lothian?
The median time from application to decision is 1.8 months, against a UK median of 2.3 months for solar. That is measured between the submission and decision dates recorded in REPD, so it reflects the whole determination period including any extensions.
How much solar capacity has East Lothian consented?
3 MW has been consented across 6 approved schemes. There are no applications currently awaiting a decision.
Other technologies in East Lothian
Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Open Government Licence v3.0 — 2026 Q1 extract. Approval rate is over decided applications only (approved ÷ approved+refused); withdrawn and undecided schemes are excluded. A permission later expired still counts as approved because consent was granted. REPD covers schemes of roughly 150 kW and above, is published quarterly, and does not record refusal reasons — so nothing here explains why a scheme was refused. Screening context for site selection, not planning advice.
Novarly Parcel · official public data, read properly · parcel.novarly.com
Screen a specific site here · All authorities · UK property report