A 50MW solar development in North Yorkshire has been successful in an appeal against an earlier refusal of the scheme by a local council.
Developer Lightrock Power lodged the appeal against the decision by Hambleton District Council which refused the scheme, in Scruton, on the basis of the impact on agricultural land.
According to the appeal documentation, the inspector found that the majority of the land was not BMV (DL18), but that even if it was, it wouldn’t be “lost”, and neither the development plan nor national policy prevented the use of such land.
The council’s case at the hearing was that the loss of productivity of the land for the 40 year duration of the scheme was objectionable, but the inspector noted that “the specific way agricultural land is used is not a matter that is subject to planning controls…Given this, the fact that the proposal would limit the ability to carry out any arable farming does not, in my opinion, mean that it results in the loss of agricultural land when it can still be used for other agricultural uses.
“Furthermore, current government schemes actually encourage farmers to take land out of production and put it to grass, meadows, or trees for carbon capture.” (DL22).
The inspector recognised the scarcity of grid connections nationally, and the fact the site benefited from an immediate grid connection to the nearby substation.
The proposed development would make a valuable contribution to achieving local and national renewable energy goals as well as achieving a substantial biodiversity net gain.
Costs were awarded on the basis the council failed to produce relevant evidence to support the RFR, and so delayed development that should have been permitted.