1. Could you confirm the total projected costs for the Solar Scheme at Mearoak Park & Ride site? Could the total projected cost be broken down by funding source, eg. Council funded, grant funding, borrowing, third party funding.

2. For the same Scheme, could you confirm the projected income return for the scheme per annum, and the projected life time for the Scheme?

The Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) includes £2.955 million for the project listed as “Solar PVs (Mereoak Park & Ride)”. This represents the current overall capital provision for the scheme within the Council’s approved capital programme.
The detailed financial assumptions that underpin the current business case - including capital cost forecasts, revenue projections, contractor pricing, sensitivity analysis and modelling of energy revenues - are not publishable at this time. These assumptions remain under active review as part of ongoing commercial engagement with our appointed contractor. Pricing is still indicative and subject to amendment. Disclosure at this stage would risk prejudicing the Council’s commercial position.
At present, the full projected cost is intended to be funded through borrowing.

The internal review by our Legal team has concluded that:
• the Council’s original response was correct
• section 43(2) FOIA is appropriately applied
• the public interest in withholding the detailed financial information outweighs that in disclosure
• no additional information can be released at this stage.