Decision looms on plans for solar panel farm

The solar panels could generate enough energy to power approximately 6,400 homes annually

Plans for a solar farm in East Sussex are set to go in front of councillors on Tuesday.

Eastbourne Borough Council’s planning committee will consider proposals to build a solar farm, battery energy storage system and associated infrastructure, on land south of Cross Levels Way, in Eastbourne.

Planning officers have recommended the project is approved, subject to conditions, but 114 letters of objection have been submitted due to concerns around the archaeological, ecological and visual importance of the site.

The site comprises two fields classed as “moderate quality” agricultural land, which sit either side of the railway line between Hampden Park and Eastbourne.

The Eastbourne Society, a group involved in heritage conservation within the town, said it is not against a social panel farm, but the operating company must address how it will preserve the biodiversity of a site.

“The area is part of the lungs of the town,” a spokesman said.

“That was a reason that it was designated Eastbourne Park, to prevent any encroaching development.”

The land has been allocated within Eastbourne’s local plan as a suitable location for renewable energy infrastructure, but is also a designated local wildlife site, within an archaeological notification area and a functional flood plain.

Planning officers said that if the plans are approved, the developer - Low Carbon - should secure the licence connected with the conservation of Great Crested Newts, and that it should work with the county’s archaeologist.

A decision will be made on Tuesday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.