Solar farm near city would have ‘drastic’ impact
Planning chiefs have voiced strong opposition to the development of a huge solar farm near Lincoln citing a ‘drastic’ impact on the rural landscape.
Fosse Green Energy is a proposed solar farm over 3,000 acres near the villages of Thorpe on the Hill, Witham St Hughs, Haddington, Thurlby, Navenby, and Bassingham. A 10km cable corridor, connecting the site to a proposed new National Grid substation near Navenby, is also included in the application.
The project is made up of a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic generating station with battery storage, onsite substations and associated infrastructure. The developer states this will generate and export/import electricity in excess of 50MW at near zero carbon emissions over the lifetime of the project.
The solar farm would have a 60-year operational life, which members of Lincolnshire County Council’s Planning and Regulations Committee meeting on Monday felt would dominate the local countryside and objected to the proposals
Cllr Danny Brookes, Executive Member for Planning and Environment, said: "Lincolnshire is facing a significant number of large-scale energy and infrastructure schemes, and it is becoming increasingly important that decision-makers fully recognise their combined short and long-term impacts.
"Each of these developments bring with them the loss of productive agricultural land and drastic changes to our rural landscape, and there is a real concern that the effects of these projects outweigh any of the benefits promised.
“If approved, this huge proposal would dominate the local landscape, and dwarf local communities which are passionately speaking out against the project.
“Most of these NSIP applications aren’t right for the area or our residents, and it’s an issue that goes beyond the colour of our rosettes. Councillors are speaking out against this industrialisation en masse and committed to defending our productive agricultural land and rural communities’ way of life.
Fosse Green Energy said many factors had been considered in selecting the proposed location for the project, including the topography of the landscape; availability and location of a connection to the electricity system; and local planning and environmental factors including visual impact, biodiversity, agricultural land quality and land use, and flood risk.
The developers argue that the design and development will take into consideration other proposals being brought forwards in the area and solar projects are quick to construct and operate, providing early green power benefits with minimal noise or air quality impacts during operation.
They also state they are exploring ways to provide local benefits from the proposed development, including funding towards improvements to existing community facilities, subsidised solar PV panels for community use and lower cost energy, provision of electrical vehicle charging points, grants for broadband and wider improvements, educational visits and wider education/apprenticeship opportunities.