Shropshire South Planning Committee has again rejected unanimously plans to develop a solar farm on land near Whitton, eight months after throwing out similar proposals.
Last October developer EBS Energy failed in its attempt to gain planning permission for an 8.6MW solar farm on 17.4 hectares of land in Caynham, Shropshire, due to its close proximity to Shropshire Hills, which is deemed an area of outstanding natural beauty.
EBS Energy then came back with an amended proposal, halving the farm’s projected capacity and significantly reducing its size to just 5.72 hectares, while an extended landscape and biodiversity scheme was included to allay fears raised from the previous plans.
But despite local planning officer Grahame French’s report recommending the farm be approved subject to its development meeting several conditions, the committee chucked the plans out yesterday afternoon after voting against them unanimously.
The committee again said that the site would have a negative impact on the area’s countryside and also claimed its development would result in the loss of good quality agricultural land.
Councillor Andy Boddington told local news publication the Evesham Journal that the rejection was the right decision, regarding the site as “inappropriate for a solar farm”.