Fleckney: Major new solar farm complex gets green light

The solar farm would operate for 40 years before the land is returned to agricultural use, councillors heard

Plans for a major new solar farm in south Leicestershire have been approved.

The green energy project will see 103,000 panels installed on 227.3 acres (92 hectares) of farmland near Fleckney.

Harborough District Council's planning committee granted permission for the scheme when it met on Tuesday.

Councillors were told the complex could generate enough renewable energy to power 13,500 homes a year.

Fleckney Parish Council objected to the proposal, at Wistow Lodge Farm to the north west of the village.

'Climate change crisis point'

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said parish councillor Suzanne Wyche told the meeting the solar farm would "cause irreversible damage to the land".

She added: "The rural and tranquil setting of Fleckney is rapidly being eroded."

The solar farm, proposed by Elgin Energy Esco Limited, would be bigger than the village itself, Ms Wyche added.

However, planning officers said the complex would operate for 40 years before the land was restored to agricultural use.

Planning committee member David Gair said: "Climate change has reached a crisis point. This is a small but essential contribution to combatting that."

He said he sympathised with the concerns of the people living nearby, but felt "every effort has been made to face it [the solar farm] away from where it would be easily seen".