Solar farm plans on land north of Halloughton opposed by Southwell Town Council

Plans for an industrial solar farm believed to be half the size of a town centre have been opposed by councillors.

The resubmitted application, by JBM Solar Projects 6 Ltd, was for a solar farm and battery stations on land north of Halloughton, Southwell.

The plans were opposed by Southwell Town Council in August 2020 and January 2021 and for a third time on Wednesday night.

Councillors said despite the amended application, little had been changed to address their issues over the size of the solar farm.

"There are no substantive changes to the previous application and this development is using prime agricultural land. Such developments should be reserved for brownfield sites," said David Martin, chairman of the council's planning committee.

"It is 40 to 50% of the area of Southwell town, so that gives you an indication of the size of it — it is industrial in its size.

"It is fair to say we need alternative methods of generating electricity but I don't think it should be at the expense of countryside and high quality agricultural land.

"Yes, we all want to save the planet, but we also have to eat and create food for ourselves and that is why we should retain those sites.

"We should be sticking to the national planning policy which favours the brownfield sites — which has no agricultural areas — and wants to put bad areas into good use."

The plans would see around 260 acres of solar panels in place for a period of 40 years, with 138 three-metre high CCTV poles around its fencing.

"After 40 years of being underneath solar panels the ground will be in very poor shape," said Mr Martin.

"By definition, the ground won't have had sunlight on it. It won't have had the nutrients which keeps it in good shape as farming land, and that is another reason not to build it on farmland.

"In regards to the amendments that we discussed in the last application, he has taken one field out so in terms of spoiling the views it has no impact.

"There is a complete lack of understanding of what they are doing to this area.

"In the application that is there now, I have counted 20 letters (from residents) and every one of them has rejected the application and they are all making very similar comments."

Councillors also had issues with the intrusive nature of the fencing and CCTV cameras.

One Southwell resident, Joesephine Macdonald, shared the council's concerns.

She said: "These are very minor amendments and do not make up for the loss of visual, social and diverse amenities of this very large proposed site."