Controversial solar park will go ahead

A large solar park will be built on farmland in north Devon

A controversial large solar park will now go ahead on farmland in north Devon.

Plans for solar panels and a battery storage facility on an 80-acre site near Torrington were first refused by Torridge District Council but have now been granted permission by the Planning Inspector.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England is against the project and said the decision was a blow for local democracy.

Developers say the solar park on land at Deptford Farm will provide enough clean and renewable electricity to power more than 8,000 homes.

The solar park will be built on this farmland near Torrington

The Planning Inspector's report said the 28 megawatt (MW) scheme would "introduce uncharacteristic, industrial-esque development over a relatively large area".

The inspector "recognised the strength of local concern" and said the development "would harm the character and appearance of the surrounding landscape" but would "provide significant benefits".

The inspector said the project went against the North Devon and Torridge Local Plan but said the benefits were "sufficient to outweigh the landscape harm and the conflict with relevant local plan policies".

The inspector's report said the development would "extend over a reasonably large area of good quality agricultural land" but it would continue to be used for sheep grazing around the panels.

Steve Crowther from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England was against the solar park near Torridge

Steve Crowther, from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), said: "We are seeing a point here now where local democracy - local people and communities' opinions - are being taken out of planning."

He said it had taken eight years to formulate the North Devon and Torridge Local Plan and added: "It encapsulates the will of the people, through their elected representatives, to develop their area with logic, care and sensitivity."

In December, the government said it wanted to increase solar generation in the UK from 16.6 gigawatts (GW) to 45-47 GW by 2030.

Peter Connor, Associate Professor in sustainable energy policy at the University of Exeter, said "hard decisions" were necessary regarding the location of sites producing renewable energy.

He said: "I think definitely for the wider community you can make a clear case that we need to decarbonise our energy supply and solar and wind energy are the key routes to doing that.

"So obviously over the last few years we've seen price rises globally which have impacted really severely on our energy bills and having more generation in the UK should help to bring down prices in the longer term."

'Sustainability and security'

The original planning application noted that in February 2019, Torridge District Council "declared a climate change emergency which committed them to carbon neutrality by 2030".

The application, on behalf of Elgin Energy EsCo Ltd, said the solar park would "produce a clean, renewable and sustainable form of electricity" that would "improve the sustainability and security of UK-based electricity supplies".

Elgin Energy did not respond to a request for comment.

Torridge District Council said it did not want to comment further on the appeal decision.