Plans for a new solar development on County Durham farmland have been approved despite concern that “Durham is not a sunny place”. 

The new solar farm will be built at Hett, near Spennymoor, and will cover around 282 acres of land. 

Applicant Lightsource bp resubmitted the plans after an initial proposal was refused in June 2022. Their bid was rejected after Durham County Council’s planning committee ruled its location and size would cause unacceptable harm to the character, quality and distinctiveness of the landscape and would conflict with planning policies. 

A planning meeting on Wednesday heard how the latest application had been revised to reduce the area covered in solar panels. Lightsource bp said the development will provide “several significant benefits to the local community and the environment.”

The Northern Echo: The new solar farm will be built at Hett, near Spennymoor, and will cover around 282 acres of land. The new solar farm will be built at Hett, near Spennymoor, and will cover around 282 acres of land. (Image: Lightsource bp)

However, residents who live near the proposed site said the lack of local knowledge of the scheme stemmed from poor engagement from the applicant. 

Jean Wood said: “Durham is not a sunny place, especially in winter, when we need more electricity. We do get a lot of rain, which has had a major impact on crops, so to take this land out of operation would be neglectful. Agricultural land is a finite commodity. We need food security.

“We live 250 metres away from this planned development and nowhere in any of the documents have we been mentioned or even considered.

“I don’t know why we’re even here. This development is purely about money and ticking boxes, nothing to do with net zero. This is not cheap and it’s certainly not green.”

Mary Kelly Foy, MP for the City of Durham, wrote in support of the application, stating that the local authority declared a climate emergency in 2019 and is committed to achieving a carbon-neutral county by 2045.

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A statement from Lightsource bp read: “The proposed solar farm will make a significant positive contribution to increasing renewable energy generation and reducing carbon emissions in the context of a nationally and locally declared climate emergency. 

“The benefits of the scheme have been recognised by the local community, where a community engagement exercise undertaken across Hett, Ferryhill, and Spennymoor, in January 2024 found that 43 per cent of residents were supportive of the development, 41 per cent were neutral, and 16 per cent opposed.”

In voting to approve the scheme, Green Party councillor Jonathan Elmer said: “We have to do everything we can to tackle this climate emergency.”