Agenda item

Public Participation

Mr Aster Crawshaw spoke in objection to the application.

Mrs Jennifer Epworth spoke in objection to the application.

Mrs Linda Buckley spoke in objection to the application.

Mr Richard Jowett spoke in support of the application.

Mr Angus MacDonald, applicant, spoke in support of the application.

Mr Andrew Fido, agent, spoke in support of the application.

Mr Richard Burden, National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), spoke in objection to the application.

Cllr Gerald Bundy, Coome Bissett Parish Council, spoke in objection to the application.

The Area Development Manager presented the report which recommended that permission be approved. Key issues were stated to include the visual impact on the adjoining Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the surrounding area and on the existing agricultural land. National and local planning policy regarding solar farms was provided along with details of the mitigation measures to be included as part of the application.

Members of the Committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions of the officer. Details were sought on the scale of the proposed development, the number of inverter stations on the site, and the quality grade of the land.

Members of the public then had the opportunity to present their views to the Committee, as detailed above.

The local Unitary Division Member, Councillor Julian Johnson, then spoke regarding the application. Although he took a neutral view, he highlighted the concerns raised by the local community and the importance that in accordance with policy the Committee needed to determine whether the need for renewable energy would be overriding the need to protect the environment should the application be approved.

A debate followed, where members discussed the level of impact of the proposals on the site itself and in particular on the AONB, and whether the scale of the proposals could be sufficiently mitigated through the screening proposed at short and longer distances. It was also raised that the quality grade of the land was unclear, and whether it was at a level where additional uses other than arable farming was encouraged. Members also raised whether the site would become permanent in future, although it was noted that grazing could continue on the site if solar panels were installed.

At the conclusion of debate, it was,

Resolved:

To REFUSE the application for the following reason:

The site lies in open countryside within the setting of, and visible from, the Cranbourne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  The proposal, by reason of its siting, scale and resulting prominence in views both from, and to, the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, would not achieve the fundamental aim of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which is to conserve its landscape and natural beauty. 

Although the proposal includes mitigation in the form of new hedge planting, this is considered insufficient to reduce the adverse impacts on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  Those adverse impacts are, in particular, the visual impact of the closely arranged ranks of solar arrays which spread across a significant area of farmland on higher ground, and which would ‘read’ as a man-made, almost industrial intrusion in the otherwise natural landscape from which the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty can be experienced and which can be experienced from the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 

This is contrary to Core Policy 51 of the emerging Wiltshire Core Strategy which specifically refers to the relevance of the setting of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the spirit of ‘saved’ Policy C4 of the Salisbury District Local Plan, and Central Government planning policy set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (paragraph 115).

The Committee took a recess from 1930-1935.