Solar farm application for green belt site near Chesterfield draws objections

Ethical Power Development Ltd wants to install a ground mounted solar photovoltaic array with infrastructure, fencing, CCTV and access tracks on agricultural land to the south of Green Acres, Langer Lane, Wingerworth. The company has applied to North East Derbyshire District Council for consent.

Two residents of Wingerworth have submitted objections. Janet Brown of Lilymede Close wrote: “I have read that it is considered to be "safe" to live 200m to 500m from a solar farm. This proposal has just a 10m "buffer zone" from Birdholme Brook and I live the other side of the brook (to the north)...the house being approx 25m from the Birdholme Brook....making a total distance of just 35m!! Surely this is not acceptable.

“I am concerned that the "higher risk of surface water flooding" in an area 3 flood zone with a medium/high probability of flooding, will further exacerbate the risk.

“I am interested to read that there is a "community development fund" that will benefit "local residents" in NE Derbyshire, whereas the residents most affected by the proposal, live just a few metres north of the site, in Chesterfield Borough Council area.

“The area for development has been designated by NE Derbyshire as "Green belt", separating Chesterfield from Wingerworth. The essential characteristic of Green Belt are the openness and permanence of the area. While a "temporary" (40 year!) construction may technically not impact the "permanence" aspect, it can hardly meet the openness characteristic.”

Richard Browne, who lives on Longedge Lane, commented: “I strongly object to this application. This development will ruin a beautiful area in a district already suffering from recent excessive housing developments. These developments should be sited in brown belt land not green belt. Wildlife will be significantly impacted, the area has Barn and Tawny owls, Skylarks foxes and badgers all of which will suffer as a result. Quoting increase in biodiversity due to hedgerows is misleading and a lame attempt to cover up true impact on wildlife, not to mention the negative aesthetic impact.”

A request for pre-application advice on the merits of the scheme was submitted to the district council in April 2021 after the location had progressed through an extensive site selection process. The response stated that the location of the site in the Green Belt would require an applicant to demonstrate very special circumstances to justify the development.

Since then, community engagements, door knockings and reviews of social media opinions have been undertaken. One of the concerns was that the proposed solar farm would be surrounded by houses to which Public Power Solutions (later acquired by Ethical Power Development in April 2023) replied that the developable area had been chosen partly due to it being screened from the nearest residential properties and had been designed to ensure there were no adverse amenity impacts including noise.

Brownfield sites were prioritised in the site searching process but no such sites were available or suitable. The proposed site was poor quality agricultural land.

In support of the application for planning consent, Ethical Power Development concludes in its Community Engagement Statement: “The limited number of public objections and overall engagement with the project to date, despite widespread engagement from EPD, may indicate the significance of the scheme to the local community and the limited adverse impacts it is considered to have.”