Plans for a solar farm near Sutton St James have been passed after a successful appeal by the applicant.
Integrum SPV now looks set to erect the infrastructure over 44.2hectares of land off New Fen Dike after the Planning Inspectorate overturned South Holland District Council Planning Committee’s refusal of the application.
Councillors went against its own planning officers’ recommendation by refusing the application saying the benefits of the panels, which would supply enough power for 939 homes, outweighed the negatives.
The council response argued that the solar farm should not go on the best agricultural land.
But the report overturning the council’s decision by planning inspector Ryan Cowley said: “The defined search area is mostly agricultural land, and an assessment of the council’s brownfield register failed to identify any suitable previously developed land, non-agricultural land or brownfield sites within the search area.
“Additionally it did not identify any suitable commercial rooftops that could viably accommodate the development, particularly given its scale and the complexities and loss of efficiency involved in splitting the scheme across multiple smaller sites.”
It also states: “Accordingly, based on the available evidence, a significant majority of the site is of lower quality than that of the surrounding agricultural land.”
Overall, I am satisfied that the proportion of best and most versatile agricultural land affected and extent of harm would be relatively insignificant given the impermanent nature of the development and in the context of the substantial comparable or higher-grade agricultural land available within this area.
“Accordingly, the effect of the development on food security, and by extension national security, would be limited.”
On the cumulative impact the report goes on to say that the current passed land ‘remains a very small percentage of local, regional, and national best and most versatile agricultural land’.
It continues though: “While I recognise the importance of assessing cumulative impacts, each case must ultimately be considered based on its individual merits and the prevailing circumstances at the time of the decision.
“While at some point a cumulative tipping point may be reached, there is no compelling evidence before me at this time to indicate that the appeal scheme would result in this.
“The appeal proposal would therefore not have an unduly harmful effect on best and most versatile agricultural land.”
Mr Cowley backed the council’s construction management scheme for the site and turned down the developer’s request to amend that so work could start at 7.30am.
It also notes that no objections were raised by the authority’s Environmental Health team, Lincolnshire County Council’s Highways department nor Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue local drainage boards or the Environment Agency.
- The report states that National Grid also made an objection to the proposal, but only after the district council had already refused it, claiming it ‘would present a direct conflict with the proposed alignment of the Grimsby to Walpole’ overhead power lines proposal.
But Mr Cowley’s report states that ‘there is a considerable degree of uncertainty in the evidence before me regarding the extent of any conflict’.
National Grid had told the appeal ‘it may frustrate or delay the delivery of this critical national infrastructure’.
But the report continues: “Nevertheless, the project is obligated to be delivered by 2033, and it was confirmed at the hearing by NGET that it will proceed irrespective of the outcome of this appeal.”
