PLANNING chiefs at Warrington have thrown out an application for ground-mounted solar panels to provide sustainable energy to an adjoining house.
The proposed development would have been on Green Belt land used for grazing sheep at Cherry Nurseries Barn, Kay Lane, Lymm , near to a proposed new dwelling which already has planning consent.
The applicant said people in the locality would be extremely unlikely to be affected by the development. In fact, it was thought that any effect would be positive, providing an example for low carbon approaches to energy production.
“The panels will provide a living example of renewable energy and promote the use of low carbon energy sources.”
The installation would be designed to provide year-round energy to light and power the property, with any surplus energy being fed into the National Grid at the same time as reducing carbon emissions.
Any small visual impact would be far outweighed by the benefit of reduced fuel usage, reduced pollution and the increase in energy efficiency of the property.
But planning officers argued that the scheme amounted to inappropriate development in the Green Belt. Permission for the proposed dwelling had been granted in 2018 but the site for the panels was outside the approved curtilage of the property, on agricultural land.
It was considered there was ample space within the property’s curtilage for the development without encroaching further into the countryside, while having the same environmental benefits.
