Solar farm planning appeal dismissed

Ashfield District Council had rejected plans in 2022

An appeal over rejected plans to build a solar farm in Nottinghamshire has been dismissed.

In 2022 Hamilton Solar Ltd submitted an application for a 23-acre site on Cauldwell Road, between Mansfield and Sutton-in-Ashfield, which it said would allow a nearby industrial estate to “benefit from the zero-carbon power".

Ashfield District Council refused the application over concerns about the impact on the countryside and nearby Mound on Hamilton Hill, a monument that may date back to the Bronze Age.

A report carried out by an inspector following a visit in February said the proposed site and surroundings "make a positive contribution to the character of the countryside" and is "sensitive to change".

Advice from historians

The Planning Inspectorate report noted plans for a "landscape and mitigation and enhancements plan" to address the impact on the local environment, but said the plans "would be a development of significant proportions to the edge of Sutton-in-Ashfield, which would harm the appearance of a large area of land incorporating open and undeveloped agricultural fields".

"The subsequent loss of openness and erosion of the site’s undeveloped qualities would undermine how the countryside relates to the settlement," it said.

Also cited as a factor for dismissing the appeal was concern over the impact on the Mound on Hamilton Hill.

The Planning Inspectorate report said advice had been received from Historic England (HE) on the scheduled monument, with the site having been used in a number of roles over centuries.

"HE refers to many possibilities for the potential use of the mound, including as a Bronze Age barrow, look out, and site for gallows, [but] its significance is most likely to relate to its administrative and decision-making functions as a ‘moot’," the report said.

"The stated benefits would be of greater significance and would outweigh the identified harm."