'Solar farm unlikely to affect natural landscape'

A proposed solar farm in Telford and Wrekin is unlikely to have a significant effect on the landscape it could sit on, Natural England has said.

The approximate 58 hectare (143 acre) site would sit on land between The Incline and New House Farm in Lilleshall.

The land was not within, or partly within, sites of special scientific interest, areas of conservation, special protection areas or wetland areas, Natural England, the government's environmental adviser, said.

Telford and Wrekin Council is consulting on whether developers Greenvolt Power will have to submit a full environmental impact assessment alongside the planning application later this year.

However, Natural England told the authority's planners that the developer must provide information to assess the effect on protected species and plans to deal with that.

The plans have been met with concerns, with Andrew Eade, councillor for the area saying they would "have a massive and detrimental impact on Lilleshall's natural landscape", and lead to a loss of much-needed agricultural land.

A petition against the solar farm also reached more than 460 signatures.

Consultants for the developer said the land had not been listed as a part of the Shropshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy "suggesting no current data indicating ecological significance."

Greenvolt said the development would meet the annual electricity needs of "approximately 11,000 homes", and that solar farms could "significantly improve biodiversity compared with intensive agriculture".

It added that the land would be returned to farmland at the end of the life of the site.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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