Another solar farm will add to an increasingly panel-populated landscape as a new scheme meant to help achieve net zero was given the go-ahead by councillors.
The 49.99MW solar farm and battery energy storage system was proposed by Sirius Renewable Energy for 87 hectares of agricultural land near Horseclose Lane and Letch Lane, west of Stockton near Carlton. The planning committee of Stockton Council debated whether or not to grant permission to the scheme on Wednesday (March 15).
Planning agent Dan Elvin, speaking for the developer, said: “The proposal represents an essential step towards a more sustainable planet (and) pave the way for a brighter, cleaner and more energy-secure future.”
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He said they were uniquely able to connect the 2.5m-high panels to the Norton substation and had carried out extensive assessments, investigations and consultation including meetings with residents and presentations to Carlton and Redmarshall parish councils, which both objected to the plan. He added: “We have refined our proposals and the layout design to minimise any environmental impact.”
He said there would be an average of less than five HGV deliveries a day in the nine-month construction period, with none going through Carlton, Redmarshall or proposed housing developments off Harrogate Lane.
He said the scheme matched the council’s climate change and carbon reduction strategies and government targets. Sirius says the 40-year farm will supply enough renewable energy to power more than 16,800 homes a year.
Council planners said they considered the cumulative effect with other solar farms operating or approved in the area. Officers recommended the plan be approved despite nine letters of objection.
Principal planning officer Elaine Atkinson said: “This proposal represents a significant contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Subject to the recommended conditions, it is considered that the impact of the development can be successfully mitigated and, when decommissioned, the site can revert back to its former use.
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“The plan has been amended following objections from neighbours and it actually removed some of the solar panels from the northern and eastern side.”
However Councillor Lynn Hall said: “This is yet another application which will have an impact on the surrounding rural community. This is yet another application that’s been submitted in isolation.
“I wondered if we now have the start of an overall emerging plan. I ask why we’re considering each one in isolation.
“Rural England agrees that the cumulative impact is in fact relevant,” she said, asking for assurances on traffic and raising issues including camouflaging buildings and hedges to screen the farm.
She added: “Some of these neighbouring fields are in fact going to have housing on. They will be seen and very visual from that new housing.”
She raised one of the more unusual objections – the possibility of birds mistaking the solar panels for bodies of water and diving to their deaths, as raised by countryside charity CPRE. She said: “There is a clear issue that birds do dive into such things because they did at the chromium plant.
“If they are reflective in any way there is clear evidence that would happen. And I do worry about the bird scarers issue we’ve been dealing with over in Hartburn.
“If we have a similar situation on this solar farm where they’re trying to keep the birds away, that could have a major impact on the neighbouring residential areas.
“Another big one for me is fire risk. There have been cases where some of these batteries have set alight. Heaven forbid if there was ever a major incident.”
Ms Atkinson said plans had to be considered at the time they came in, there were inbuilt systems to tackle fire risks and short-term impacts were not deemed significant enough to justify rejecting the proposal.
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She said: “There’s no evidence anywhere to show that birds actually do think these are ponds and dive. We wouldn’t refuse it for that reason. There is nothing to say that these are a danger to birds.”
Cllr Tony Riordan said traffic would pass the housing development of 969 homes on Yarm Back Lane. He said: “By then people will be living in those houses.” He argued the proposed Byers Gill development, a solar farm across Stockton and Darlington, should be taken into account.
Ms Atkinson said that plan could not be assessed as it had not been submitted yet: “We can only take into account sites that are already in the system or already been approved and operational sites.” Councillors voted 9-2 to approve the plan.
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