WEST Somerset residents were jumping for joy after unpopular plans for a massive solar farm were unanimously refused.
Elgin Energy applied in December, 2021, to build a new solar farm north of Tropiquaria zoo on the A39, near Washford, on land owned by the Wyndham Estate.
Somerset Council’s planning committee delayed a decision on the plans last month, pushing things back to this week to allow for a more robust debate.
The committee roundly voted to refuse the plans when it met in Taunton on Tuesday (July 18), citing the damage the project would cause to protected landscapes and the loss of high-quality agricultural land.
More than 100 people wrote to the council objecting to the project, along with opposition from Watchet and Williton town councillors, Exmoor National Park Authority, the Quantock Hills management group, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), and many other organisations.
But planning officer James Holbrook had dismissed all objections and recommended councillors to approve the project because it complied with planning and energy polices.
Mr Holbrook said the permission would be ‘temporary’ because it would only be for 40 years, with the site then returned to use for agriculture.
The solar park would have spanned several fields near the Washford transmitting station, running from the B3190 Washford Hill to the West Somerset Mineral Line active travel route, which connects the village to Watchet.
Elgin Energy, which consulted publicly on its proposals in May, 2018, said the solar farm would provide about 25 million kWh of electricity per year, enough to power an average 7,500 homes.
A battery energy storage site would also have been created near the site, allowing Elgin Energy to store surplus energy and sell it back to the National Grid at peak times.
Robert Dibble, the current tenant farmer at Kentsford Farm, told the committee that building a solar farm on the land would be a ‘disaster just waiting to happen’.
Mr Dibble said: “I have lived and worked on the farm for 60 years.
“At a time when there is a national food crisis, it is vital that use of the most versatile land should continue – food security is just as important as energy security.
“The proposed solar installation shows total disregard for the running of the farm, splitting the holding into two.
“The adjacent fields just had their second gas leak in five years, this is a disaster just waiting to happen.
“Visitors have told me they come for the many footpaths, including the mineral line and the England Coast Path.
“Many have said they will not choose to come back to the area if they have to look at industrial-looking panels.
“There has been a total and blatant contempt for me, my family, and my livelihood.”
CPRE Somerset trustee Gerard Hutting said the solar farm would greatly damage views from the Exmoor National Park and other protected areas.
Mr Hutting said: “Both Exmoor and the Quantock Hills have strongly and repeatedly objected.
“It conflicts with national policy which protects designated areas and their setting.
“Forty years is a significant period of time. This land slopes down towards Washford and is clearly visible from the Mineral Line – it cannot be effectively screened.”
Watchet resident Penelope White said: “Not every project which provides green energy should automatically be approved.
“Solar panels take up a vast amount of space and their output fluctuates.
“Just one wind turbine in the North Sea has the capacity to power 16,000 homes.
“Elgin Energy wants to install 100 acres of solar panels in a valley. No matter how many trees are planted, it will still be visible.
“We do need green energy but we also need food, we should not have to trade one off against the other.
“Do not rubber-stamp this outdated technology just because it ticks a green box.”
Williton parish Cllr Ian Aldridge said building on the site would greatly degrade the agricultural land, preventing it from being used to its full potential after the solar farm was eventually dismantled.
Cllr Aldridge said: “Somerset is preparing to make a huge contribution towards energy generation at Hinkley Point C, and we grow crops that naturally take up CO2 as they grow.
“By producing food in our own area, we reduce the carbon footprint in its transport.
“There is a place for solar panels on the roofs of homes and commercial buildings but not on good agricultural land.
“This will reduce good agricultural land to land only fit for grazing sheep.
“There is already plenty of land fit for grazing sheep – it is called Exmoor.”
Cllr Rosemary Woods, who represents Watchet on the unitary council, said the solar farm would put people off visiting Watchet, something the town did not need after the coast road to Blue Anchor had been indefinitely closed earlier this year.
Cllr Woods said: “This site is very visible from the A39, the main tourist route into West Somerset.
“The proposal will destroy the ambience of the approach to Watchet.
“We are about to see new homes developed in Watchet and Williton, let us see solar panels on the roofs.
“The majority of our tourists will need to come past this site since the B3191 was closed.
“The farmers have diversified into some tourism activity, including caravans and a campsite.
“Our planning officers are serving them a double whammy, no rolling agricultural land, and no tourists.”
Upper Tone division Cllr Gwilym Wren said: “I struggle to find a period of 40 years as ‘temporary’.
“The local economy will suffer, clearly there are impacts to the occupiers of this land.”
Dulverton and Exmoor division Cllr Steven Pugsley said: “It lies close to the national park boundaries and from several points within Exmoor it is very visible.
“While it is not in a designated area, it forms an important part of the immediate environs of the national park.”
Following a two-and-a-half-hour debate, the committee voted unanimously to go against Mr Holbrook’s recommendation and instead refused permission.
Elgin Energy has not indicated if it intended to appeal against the refusal and take it to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate, which has the power to overturn the council decision.