No detailed scheme has been submitted for the Ratcliffe on Soar power station site since 2023. Demolition runs to 2029; Cabinet votes 13 Oct to keep the rules.

Three years after Rushcliffe gave the former Ratcliffe on Soar power station blanket planning permission, nobody has yet applied to build anything there.

That is the main finding of a council review going to Cabinet on Tuesday 13 October. The site is on the western edge of the borough, about seven miles south-west of West Bridgford, either side of the A453.

The review recommends keeping the planning rules for the site exactly as they are.

What the rules allow

In July 2023 the council adopted a Local Development Order for the site. It works like an outline planning permission for the whole site, so developers only need sign-off on the detail. The Cabinet report says it allows an industrial park focused on:

  • advanced manufacturing, including technology for the move to net zero;
  • green and low-carbon energy generation;
  • data centres; and
  • energy storage.

A key reason for the order, the report says, was to help deliver the East Midlands Freeport. The government encouraged councils to use orders like this on Freeport sites to speed development up.

No detailed scheme yet

To build anything, a developer has to apply for a “Certificate of Compliance”. This is the equivalent of reserved matters under an outline permission.

None has been submitted. The report says no detailed scheme for the site has been approved.

Officers say this is not because the order is faulty. The site owner, Uniper, has not raised any concerns about how it works, the report says. Work has carried on in the background:

  • Uniper has asked the council to sign off most of the conditions that must be met before work starts. Some are approved, such as a site-wide management plan and a phasing plan. Others, including a sustainable transport strategy, are still pending.
  • Uniper has appointed contractors to demolish the power station. Demolition is currently expected to finish in 2029.

The report’s own risk section names the obvious one: that the site “remains undeveloped following its decommissioning”.

Timeline of the planning rules for the former Ratcliffe on Soar power station: the Local Development Order adopted 13 July 2023; Uniper asks for three changes in mid-2025; public consultation November 2025 to January 2026; Cabinet approves the changes on 12 May 2026, allowing data centres south of the A453; Cabinet asked to keep the order unchanged on 13 October 2026; demolition expected to finish in 2029; the order expires in July 2048, 25 years after adoption.
How the planning rules for the site have moved since 2023. Graphic by West Bridgford Live
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Data centres were added in May

The order has already changed once. Uniper asked for three changes in mid-2025. After consultation from November 2025 to January 2026, Cabinet approved them on 12 May 2026:

  • data centres are now allowed on the southern part of the site, south of the A453, as well as in the north where they were already allowed;
  • environmental works can come forward early, with the council’s agreement, in place of biodiversity net gain; and
  • local labour agreements can be agreed plot by plot, rather than in one deal for the whole site.

The report says the data centre change responded to the “significantly increased importance” the government now gives to data centres.

What happens next

The order must be reviewed on its third anniversary, which fell in July, and every five years after that. It lasts 25 years from adoption, to 2048.

Officers say there is no case to revoke or change it. The site is also proposed for allocation in the emerging Greater Nottingham Strategic Plan, which is being examined by planning inspectors. Changing the order now would clash with that plan, the report says.

Two things could reopen it:

  • Uniper is running its own review of the order. The report says that is “still some months away” from a conclusion, and may lead to a request for more changes.
  • The inspectors could recommend a different approach for the site in the strategic plan.

Any further changes would need public consultation.

What it means for you

  • No new building is imminent. Until Uniper or a developer applies for a Certificate of Compliance, there is no detailed plan to comment on.
  • Demolition is the next visible change. On the current timetable it runs until 2029.
  • Jobs are the promise, not yet the reality. The report says the site “could attract a significant number of businesses and create substantial employment opportunities”. None has been named.
  • You can watch the meeting. Cabinet meets at 7pm on 13 October. The agenda and papers are online, and our planning news page tracks the borough’s other big sites.

Sources