ALLOWING a new solar farm to be built near Ludlow would harm the landscape, a hearing has been told.

The proposals for a site off Squirrel Lane in Ledwyche were aired before a planning inspector in June as the company behind the scheme put forward its arguments to have Shropshire Council’s decision to refuse the scheme overturned.

Councillors from the authority’s southern planning committee stood by their decision in September to refuse the scheme.

Inspector John Woolcock will issue his decision on whether to allow the appeal for the 12 megawatt facility in the next few weeks.

The council said the scheme would “have an adverse effect on the setting of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and public rights of way”.

But John Ingram from Stephenson Halliday, the appellant’s landscape consultancy, said the site had substantial screening and that there is a National Grid substation and “large utilitarian farm buildings” in the area.

Council planning officer Grahame French said the site is less than two kilometres from the edge of the AONB and that its proximity to Ludlow and potential impact on tourism should also be factored in.

He added that the existing solar farm on the opposite side of Squirrel Lane and other “industrial extensions to Ludlow” were better screened.

Councillor Andy Boddington argued that the applicant should have considered “other sites of lower quality land”.

ALSO READ:

The appellant accepted that 95 per cent of the site had been graded ‘3a’, which planning policies say should be protected from development, but said other sites had been ruled out.

Councillor Claire Wild said the 28.5 hectare site was capable of producing “211 million portions of chips” over the 40-year lifespan of the solar farm, and that the UK is in a food crisis.

Do you have a Ludlow or Tenbury story you would like us to include? We would love to hear from you!

Send us your news by emailing news@ludlowadvertiser.co.uk or by clicking here.

Councillor Wild added that the proposed use of the grass beneath the solar arrays for sheep grazing was limited as it would not be suitable for ewes and lambs.

Alastair Field, the applicant’s agricultural consultant, said the current food shortage was driven by “economic and political” factors.

He also pointed out that the council had recently approved four other solar farms, three of which included greater areas of BMV land.