Wellington solar farm plans backed despite objections

More than 200 letters of objection were submitted against the plan at Steeraway Farm in Wellington

Plans for a 77,000-panel solar farm have been backed by a planning inspector, overturning a council decision to reject it.

More than 200 objections were sent to Telford and Wrekin Council, opposing the planned development at Steeraway Farm near Wellington, Shropshire.

Inspector Matthew Shrigley said he appreciated the concerns but said the overall benefits outweighed them.

The council said it would take legal advice and consider a challenge.

A three-day public inquiry was held in March after the applicants appealed against the council's decision.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the solar farm could generate enough renewable electricity to power about 11,000 households each year.

The main objection raised during the inquiry was the impact the solar farm would have on the character and appearance of the landscape around the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Mr Shrigley said: "I appreciate that components of the appeal site as arable and grazing fields do have genuine value in terms of the variety of the landscapes.

"The solar farm would be located wholly outside the AONB and would sit within only a small part of the overall strategic landscape."

Two solar sites approved

Telford and Wrekin Council announced last week it planned to go to the High Court after a government minister overturned its decision to reject another solar farm - on a neighbouring site off New Works Lane.

Shaun Davies, the leader of the council, said the two solar farms would together cover 230 acres of land.

He said: "It beggars belief that a second application for a solar farm on strategically important landscape has been approved by the government.

"The Steeraway site will be even more intrusive than New Works Lane, blighting the surrounds of the Wrekin for generations to come."

But he added: "This is not about solar panels, this has been the wrong place for this kind of large-scale industrial solar farm."

The land had previously been used for opencast mining and Mr Davies said there had been a commitment to restore it as "an area of beautiful countryside".