PLANS for a 2.5mw solar farm on agricultural land at Lymm have split the local community.
The scheme on Green Belt land at Wildersmoor Hall Farm, off Higher Lane, Lymm is set to considered by Warrington Borough Council’s development management committee on Thursday.
Planning officers are recommending it be approved.
Forty objections have been lodged, along with 16 letters from people who support the scheme
LEAF – the Lymm Environmental Action Forum – say they are huge supporters of the proposal which, they say, is on poor quality agricultural land.
They say the scheme, when completed, will be fairly inconspicuous and the panels will be mounted on stilts so that sheep can shelter and graze beneath them. They will be angled so they catch the best of the sun and will not reflect strong sunlight reflections and dazzle into the windows of local residents.
LEAF project co-ordinator Ray Banton says the panels will be a huge asset to Lymm, producing sufficient “green” energy. to power over 400 homes and, arguably more importantly, it could provide enough green energy to power Lymm High School where the next generation of around 2,000 current young pupils will become interested in the technology which will undoubtedly power their homes in the future .
Lymm Parish Council – which has declared a climate emergency – is also supporting the scheme.
But TV presenter Russell Harris, who spent eight years converting the historic Lymm Water Tower into his own home, overlooking the wind farm site, says more than 40 local people have united to oppose the scheme.
They say the scheme, if approved, would open the floodgates to future development across the Green Belt – and they want local councillors to step in before it is too late.
Mr Harris said the planning officer had recommended approval by claiming the site is “Grey Belt” rather than saying there were “very special circumstances” as normally required for Green Belt development.
He said: “’Grey Belt’ is not a legal planning designation – it’s a vague policy idea and this land remains firmly designated as Green Belt in the Local Plan.
“If this gets approved, it could be used as a precedent for unlocking development across vast areas of countryside.”
The objectors say the application ignores more suitable fields on the same farm where the solar farm could be built without damaging views.
Thursday’s development management cvommittee meeting is at Warrington Town Hall at 6pm.
2 Comments
If the panels can power 400 homes or Lymm High School, why not put them on the rooves of those buildings and have the best of both worlds, and save the green belt
I agree with the first comment. As an ex-farmer, I do not consider this to be low value agricultural land. The solar panels âtre probably produced in China using cheap labour and producing carbon dioxide.
The solar panels in the field might allow some sheep to graze but not many!
There will be far less grass grown under the solar panels than in a normal field. Grass removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere so less will be removed. When will we do our sums properly on green energy