COUNCILLORS have refused permission for a new solar farm in the countryside near Yate.
RWE was planning to generate clean electricity on two sites south of the town, one covering eight fields at Mousewell Farm, off Sodbury Lane, and the other on four fields between Westerleigh and Wapley Bushes, by Besom Lane and the railway.
The German energy company planned to connect the two sites with an underground cable and build battery storage.
It said the solar panels would have the capacity to produce enough electricity to supply 11,000 homes, with an operational lifespan of 40 years.
But RWE’s application for planning permission was refused by South Gloucestershire Council’s development management committee yesterday, due to the impact on the countryside, with a senior councillor saying the fencing around a neighbouring farmhouse would have made living there “like going into a prison compound”.
‘Major investment’
Benjamin Kwok, representing the developers, said generating renewable energy is “a key part of this and the previous government’s growth agenda”.
He added: “A community benefit fund of up to £194,000 is proposed to support local initiatives.
“The development itself constitutes a major investment in the local economy.”
However hundreds of local residents objected to the plans, citing a range of objections.
They suggested that South Gloucestershire already had enough renewable energy generation, and the new solar farm would change the views of old farmhouses and divert horse riders too.
Resident Karen Moore said: “People are not objecting to solar as a source of renewable energy, but rather whether a solar farm is appropriate in this location and complies with Green Belt policy.
“The site lies within the Green Belt and policy is clear: development here is inappropriate and should only be approved in very special circumstances.”
She added that the solar farm would harm the setting of a Grade-II listed old farmhouse, and the battery storage created a risk of fire and toxic fumes.
The impact on horse riding was another concern, while people living in nearby homes would also be able to see the solar panels.
Site is ‘grey belt’ – planning officers
Council planning officers said the site was ‘grey belt’, part of the Green Belt that doesn’t strongly contribute to the intended aims of protecting the countryside.
This includes checking the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas, preventing neighbouring towns merging into one another, and preserving the special character of historic towns.
But this was questioned by councillors, partly due to the concerns over the amount of countryside left between Yate and Bristol.
They also said a farmhouse in the middle of the solar farm would be surrounded by solar panels and fences, and should be protected as a listed building.
‘Like a prison compound’
Yate North councillor Chris Willmore, the Liberal Democrat cabinet member for planning, regeneration and infrastructure, said: “Every side of Mousewell Farm would look out onto three-metre high solar panels in all directions.
“Access to their home would be between two sets of fences.
“They would then go into their bit of land surrounded on every side by those fences, and with CCTV.
“It would be like going into a prison compound every day.”
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service