Up to 100 lorries a day to dump waste at solar site

Linda Scott lives next to the site

Hundreds more lorries could be travelling on residential and rural streets in Cheshire as part of a scheme to build a new solar farm.

Developer Infinis plans to use construction industry waste to fill in lime pits on the site near Northwich, then build the green energy scheme on the levelled land.

More than 100 lorries a day could come and go from the site, at Wallerscote, with one resident describing the anticipated increase in traffic as "ridiculous".

Infinis said the issues been raised previously, and had been considered again before the project was given approval on appeal.

The site was used for the waste from nearby chemical sites

The site, off Winnington Road, is 56 hectares and was previously used to store waste from nearby chemical manufacturing sites.

Filling in the beds and then constructing the scheme could take up to five years.

The scheme was originally refused planning permission by Cheshire West and Chester Council in 2024.

The council's reason for refusal was around the movement of HGVs and said that the proposal "had not satisfactorily demonstrated that the additional traffic could be safely and satisfactorily accommodated within the highway network, or that satisfactorily arrangements could be made to accommodate this additional traffic".

Overturning the decision, the planning inspectorate found the impact of the scheme "would not create a significant effect on the highway network".

A 22MW solar farm is planned for the site in Northwich

Linda Scott, who lives near to the entrance to the site, said: "At first I thought I was being a Nimby and thinking it was just me it was affecting but then after reading all of the objections, over 100 of them, I realised that it affects the whole of Northwich."

Steve Jones, who lives on a road on which up to 200 HGV trips would be made daily, said: "The inspector says it'll blend in with the local traffic. Two hundred lorries, blending in with the existing traffic? It's ridiculous," he said.

Ms Scott added that she and the other residents felt "really let down".

Mr Jones said there were "good, sound objections" to the scheme and the inspector had "dismissed them all".

"The councillors stood up and said, 'no, this project is bad for the area and bad for the people in the area', and it's good that the council did that.

"But it does feel like the next stage of the process is about 'no, sorry that you might not want it but we've decided in the greater national interest it'll go ahead'," he said.

Under the plans, half of the traffic would travel away from the site via the Winnington Bridge, a grade-II listed swing bridge, and the remainder would go through Northwich town centre.

There are concerns about the impact of the Winnington Bridge, which is more than 100 years old

Arthur Neil, a Labour councillor on Cheshire West and Chester Council, said 200 lorry trips a day "may not sound a lot to the inspector, but if you live here on these narrow roads and with poor infrastructure, then it is a lot".

The council had applied for Levelling Up Funding for the bridge, but this was rejected by the previous government.

Joanne Callagher, from Northwich Town Council, said the authority was in favour of green energy.

"We are not against solar energy, we're not against a solar farm here," she said.

"But what we are objecting to is all the truck movement and the impact it'll have on the local community."

The site is owned by Tata Chemicals, with developer Infinis putting forward the proposals.

Infinis said the majority of its existing solar sites were on former brownfield sites, "demonstrating our experience and commitment to constructing the Wallerscote site".

It said it had "worked extensively" with the local community throughout the process.

"The concerns had previously been raised and considered again by the Planning Inspectorate ahead of consent being granted for the project."