Plans to build 160-acre solar farm approved

Applicant Voltalia UK says the solar farm would make a 'valuable contribution to renewable energy targets' in the area

Plans to build a 160-acre (65 hectares) solar farm have been given the green light.

Pitstock Solar farm, in Rodmersham, near Sittingbourne, has been billed by the applicant as a "multi-million pound investment in the regional economy".

Energy producer Voltalia UK submitted plans for the facility to Swale Borough Council in February last year.

The council received more than 40 letters of objection from residents, plus objections from several parish councils, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The maximum output capacity of the farm is set to be 41 Megawatts (MW), and plans say it will be removed after 40 years, according to documents seen by the LDRS.

The authority's planning committee met on Thursday and approved the plans.

Councillor Duncan Burnett, of Rodmersham Parish Council, attended the meeting to object.

He said the site was officially categorised as 91% "best and most versatile farmland", with much of it used at present as cereal grain production.

He told the meeting: "Government policy is absolutely clear that our food security is matter of national security."

He argued the impact of the application, plus other Swale farmland being built on, would be "intolerable".

"We must support renewable energy but not at the cost of our communities, the best and most versatile farmland, our heritage and our national landscapes," he added.

Residents' objections included the possible traffic impact of the development on nearby villages.

However, Kent County Council's highways department had no problem with the plans.

Labour councillor Ann Cavanagh said: "If the statutory highways authority says they don't have a problem, then we haven't got a leg to stand on."

She added that if they sought to refuse it on those grounds, Voltalia could appeal the decision to the government's planning inspectorate and Swale council would lose.

Robert Chamberlain of Voltalia said the solar farm would "make a valuable contribution to renewable energy targets, and provide a significant new source of low cost and low carbon energy".

He said the project represented "a multi-million pound investment in the regional economy" that would "create a large number of jobs and raise a substantial amount of local tax revenue".

After debate, the committee was split, with six voting in favour of approval, and six voting against the plans.

Committee chairman, Conservative councillor Andy Booth used his casting vote to approve the application.