Purpose

To agree the Council's response to the
statutory public consultation and preparations for the Examination
of the Development Consent Order

Content

Resolved:
 

Note the contents of this
report.

 

Cabinet is concerned about the
substantial negative impact of the proposal and lack of detail and
information from the applicant and delegates to the Director of
Planning and Economy in consultation with the Cabinet Member for
Finance, Development Management and Strategic Planning to formalise
the additional planning issues raised during the meeting of cabinet
on 4 March for submission as part of the consultation

 

Agree the proposed response to
Island Green Power for this statutory public consultation,
including the council’s request that a supplementary public
consultation be held, as follows:

 
That Wiltshire Council
objects to the application on the following grounds.
 

The site contains 30% best and
most versatile agricultural land.  Both Core Policy 42 of
Wiltshire Core Strategy and Core Policy 86 of the new Wiltshire
Local Plan state that Best and Most Versatile land should not be
used.  Equally the NPPF para 187 emphasise the same point in
bullet b).  There is no evidence that the applicant has looked
for other potential sites for the provision of the solar farm to
avoid the use of BMV land as required in order
to justify it’s
use.

 

Cumulative impact.  Whilst
cumulative impact is not clearly defined in the NPPF there is a
clear need to take into account the
cumulative impact of renewable energy provision.  Lime Down in
itself represents a proposal that we feel goes far beyond a
reasonable test for cumulative impact.  To see that much
farmland converted and the essential industrialisation of the
countryside on that scale definitely, in
the Council’s view, goes beyond any reasonable cumulative
impact and provides good grounds for refusal.

 

The site abuts the South
Costwolds National Landscape and views
out from the landscape would be impacted.  As such the scale
and cumulative impact of the site are relevant not just to
local residents but also in relation to
the protected landscape.

 

The site sits in the Bristol Avon
Corridor as defined in the Wiltshire Green Blue Infrastructure
Plan.  It would take a significant part of that corridor,
converting it from open farmland to a more enclosed and less
diverse landscape.  This could potentially effect the Avon catchment area and ecology.  As
such the scale of the proposal would potentially cause significant
harm to an important part of the BGI plan.

 

The applicant wishes to deliver
10% Bio Diversity Net Gain.  In the
revised local plan this would need to be 20% to meet the local plan
targets.  There is however no evidence supplied to demonstrate
how this uplift could be achieved when the land use will be
modified grassland and there is no clear baseline for net gain as
things stand.  Unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate
how 20% net gain can be delivered and from what baseline, the
application should not be able to proceed.

 

There are significant outstanding
concerns regarding species of concern including bats, ground
nesting birds, brown hares, great crested newts and white clawed
crayfish.  As things stand there are serious concerns around
the protection of those species which would mean that the planning
application could not be approved until they are overcome. 
There is a specific issue regarding grazing on the site.  The
assessment from the developer is that it is assumed there would be
no grazing during the operation of the solar park however the new
local plan policy 86 bullet h requires that grazing is carried
our in areas
with defined bat sustenance zones.

 

There is no assurance that
resident’s amenity would not be detrimentally impacted by the
noise from the operation of the site.  This is also a reason
for refusal given the motorised nature of the large solar
units

 

Further to residents amenity, the applicant accepts that there
is no way to screen the solar site especially given its scale and
the elevation of land on which it is based.  Given the height
of the solar panels such screening would require the planning of
fast growing, non
native trees to provide any screening which would
itself be inappropriate in the setting of North Wiltshire. 
The inability to screen the site will 
result in substantial amenity harm and is a reason for
refusal.

 

Given the amenity issues
highlighted we are concerned that the effective
‘industrialisation’ of the countryside could result in
further impact on residents in terms of mental health in what has
always been a rural setting.

 

The recent motion passed by
Wiltshire Council regarding solar farms states

 
Whilst not opposed to the principle of the
development of solar farms in line with the National Planning
Policy Framework this Council is increasingly concerned at the
concentration of solar farms, battery storage and associated
infrastructure in Wiltshire. Some villages are now completely surrounded by solar farms and their
continued concentration represents a significant cumulative impact
and industrialisation of the
countryside.
 
Wiltshire Council therefore calls on the
Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities to define more closely what is meant by
‘cumulative impact’ regarding solar farms, battery
storage, and associated infrastructure and to take clear steps to
ensure that solar developments are more evenly spread across the UK
and not concentrated in specific areas effectively industrialising
the countryside. 
 
We would also ask for clarity of the priority
given to ensuring that food production and farming are not
destroyed as industries in specific areas through an excessive
concentration of solar farms given the massive impact that would
have on the rural way of life in villages that have been farmed for
time immemorial.
 

This application does not address
the concerns raised in that motion and needs to do so in order to be acceptable in planning
terms.

 

The grid connection for the site
is 13 miles away from the solar farm itself.  This highlights
two serious concerns:

 
                                              
i.    
Firstly, there would be appreciable environmental and ecological
harm caused by the laying of 13 miles of cable across the
countryside and the associated works to lay it.  This is only
seen as essential because of the location of the farm in relation
to the grid link.  This is an unacceptable degree of harm to
accommodate what is clearly an unsustainable location for a solar
farm.
 
                                            
ii.    
The fact that there is no local grid connection or potential for
a grid connection highlights that the proposed solar farm is in an
unsustainable location for the proposed usage.  A solar farm
should be located close to a grid connection.  The fact that
no evidence can be shown of attempts to locate the farm closer to
the grid connection demonstrates that this is being driven by the
availability of land for solar development rather than the
suitability of land for solar development and on that basis it should be rejected.
 

The grid capacity absorbed by the
solar farm puts at significant risk the ability to deliver the
local plan which proposed a large amount of housing in the
surrounding area which will also require grid connections. 
Given government’s clear directive to deliver more housing
the solar farm should not even be considered until suitable
increases in grid capacity enable it to be considered alongside
demands of housing and industry.

 

Agree the proposed delegated
authority provisions outlined below to enable the council to fulfil
its statutory duties with regard to the
Development Consent Order (DCO) process for this solar farm
development scheme.

 
1)   
Endorses the response to Public Consultation document, as set
out in Appendix 1 subject to amendment in (2), for the purpose of
submission to Island Green Power.
2)   
Authorises the Director of Planning, Economy and Regeneration,
in consultation with the appropriate Cabinet Member(s), to:
 

Finalise the consultation
documents and make any necessary minor changes in the interests of
clarity and accuracy before they are submitted to Island Green
Power as the council’s formal consultation response;
Make
arrangements for any subsequent consultation
responses that may be requested by Island Green Power; and
Respond to any queries that may
arise as a result of the submission of
this consultation response.

 
3)   
Delegated authority to be granted to the Director of Planning,
Economy and Regeneration to prepare the Local Impact Report on
behalf of the council and submit to the Planning Inspectorate in
accordance with the timetable for the examination process.
 
4)   
Delegated authority to be given to the Director of Planning,
Economy and Regeneration to make minor amendments to the Local
Impact Report to rectify such matters as typographical or
grammatical errors.
 
5)   
Delegated authority to be given to the Director of Planning,
Economy and Regeneration to formally contribute to, agree and sign
a statement of common ground to be submitted to the Examining
Authority of the Planning Inspectorate in accordance with the
timetable for the Examination process and within the terms of the
council’s Local Impact Report.
 
6)   
Delegated authority to be given to the Director of Planning,
Economy and Regeneration to prepare on behalf of the council and
submit to the Planning Inspectorate:
 
a.   
An adequacy of consultation representation
b.   
Representations on the Environmental Statement
c.   
A Written Representation on the application.
 
7)   
Delegated authority to be given to the Director of Planning,
Economy and Regeneration to formally respond to the Examining
Authority’s Inspector’s questions in accordance with
the timetable for the examination process during the course of the Examination and also to
make comment on the submissions of other parties including the
Applicant.
 
8)   
Delegated authority to be given to the Director of Planning,
Economy and Regeneration to formally represent the views of the
council at the preliminary meeting, any topic specific hearing and
subsequent requirements in accordance with the timetable for the
examination process during the course of
the Examination, within the terms of the council’s Local
Impact Report.
9)   
Delegated authority to be given to the Director of Planning,
Economy and Regeneration to add formal comments on the draft
requirements (conditions) and planning obligations of the
Development Consent Order.
 
10)Delegated authority to be
given to the Director of Planning, Economy and Regeneration to
carry out all non-statutory community benefit negotiations and to
make decisions relevant to such negotiations in connection with or
arising from the Lime Down Solar Park scheme.
 
11)Delegated authority to be
given to the Director of Planning, Economy and Regeneration to
carry out all statutory functions of the council under the Planning
Act 2008 as both Local Authority and Planning Authority in
connection with the Lime Down Solar Park scheme.
 
Reason for Decision:
 
Wiltshire Council is the Host Authority for this NSIP
scheme, and one of the key statutory consultees. By providing a
detailed response to the scheme’s statutory consultation, the
council has an opportunity to influence the scheme’s further
development and refinement by the applicant. The council will
continue to work with Island Green Power and other key stakeholders
to further develop the scheme proposals in advance of the DCO
application being submitted.