Ashfield countryside solar farm plans which would have powered 2,200 homes thrown out

Hamilton Solar had put forward plans for 23 acres of land off Hamilton Way and Cauldwell Road, between Sutton and Mansfield, to be used to create a renewable energy source for thousands of local residents.

The company said three “small-to-medium sized” agricultural fields would be used to house the solar farm, with the land chosen due to its links with a nearby electricity substation and because it is near a large industrial estate, which would allow the industrial units to “benefit from the zero-carbon power generated by the park”.

However, Ashfield Council has refused the application amid concerns about its impact on the countryside.

The authority said the plans were an “uncharacteristic intrusion” into green space.

The council said: “The proposal would result in substantial, demonstrable harm to the significance of a designated heritage asset through inappropriate development within its setting.

“[This would] further compromise the important surviving rural landscape of the scheduled ancient monument.

“The wider public benefits associated with the development are considered not to outweigh the substantial harm deriving from it.

“It has not been suitably demonstrated there are no other available sites within the district which may be more appropriate to accommodate such a development to avoid this level of harm.

“[The proposal] would be an uncharacteristic intrusion into the open countryside through a substantial development.”

When submitting the plans earlier this summer, the company said areas around the farm would be available for farming use, including sheep being able to graze nearby fields throughout the solar farm’s proposed 30-year lifespan.

The company had proposed leasing the land for this period, alongside an additional two years to create and dismantle the solar farm.

It would then have been converted back into its current condition.

In statements accompanying its application, Hamilton Solar said: “The proposed solar farm will use solar panels fixed to the ground using metal pipes and supporting infrastructure.

“This translates into the generation of about 8.01 Gigawatt hours of clean renewable energy each year, which will be supplied to nearby homes, industrial units and businesses via a connection to the electricity grid.

“This will be enough to power in excess of 2,200 homes.”