Canalside solar farm bid sparks public outcry
The bid to create a huge solar farm between the M5 and the Severn has faced backlash from locals
Controversial plans to build a huge solar farm next to Gloucester and Sharpness canal have sparked hundreds of objections.
A proposal to install photovoltaic panels on more than 117 acres of farmland in open countryside in the Lower Severn Valley has been submitted to Stroud District Council.
PACE Tribute Energy Limited wants permission to develop the site which is around 540 yards south of the village of Epney and east of Saul.
However, the 49.9-megawatt scheme which could power around 11,000 homes has sparked a strong public outcry.
More than 260 public comments have been made to Stroud District Council with one objector saying the area between the A38 at Morton Vallance and the River Serven is “already inundated with solar power plants”.
“It is unreasonable to impose yet another on those of us who live in this area,” they said.
“We live close to the Severn. Our house is home to a significant maternal bat roost.
“Aside for a moment from the impact on the human species, has any consideration at all been paid to nonverbal species regarding this area as their home?”
Another objector said the nearby Whitminster solar farm development has already caused them a great deal of stress due to the impact of traffic, development noise, pollution from the number of construction traffic impacting their asthma.
“I object due to the area identified being a flood zone and the surrounding villages having been impacted several times in recent years, this will only increase water runoff,” they said.
“I object to the destruction of the natural environment, an environment that brings people great joy.
“I object to the damage to wildlife and their habitat. I object to the noise these stations create when operational, this will impact humans and wildlife.
“This area is being unfairly targeted, solar must be on roofs and industrial land, not farmland.”
While another objector from Stroud said the solar panels would be a “blight on the landscape”.
“There will be no way back and the loss for the local nature and local community will be devastating.
“Reading between the lines, there is not one local person in the Longney and Epney villages that wants this project to occur.”
County Councillor Stephen Davies (C, Hardwicke and Severn) is concerned over the proliferation of solar farms in the flat area between the M5 and the Severn.
There is a solar farm at Cam, another under construction at Whitminster and Moreton Valence as well as planning permission for one at Longney and Epney.
There are concerns the latest plans would lead to a solar farm on a flood plain which seems particularly incompatible with electricity and an important wildlife location, according to Cllr Davies.
Fretherne with Saul Parish Council also objected to the proposals and they carried out an opinion poll which found 99 per cent of respondents are against the development.
Cllr Davies said: “It is important to understand that people are not against solar farms and recognise the need for these, the concern is the overdevelopment of these in the flat piece of land between the M5 and the Severn.
“This is overdevelopment on farming land that is equally important for food production.
“And there is a frustration at how difficult people have found it to give their feedback to Stroud planning.”
Consultants working on the scheme say the proposed solar farm would not have a significant adverse impact on landscape character or residential properties.
They say the Epney site has been carefully selected and the layout of the solar panels has been carefully considered to limit its visibility.
Planting has been proposed to help further limit the visual impact, they said.
“The proposed development will deliver significant benefits, including a valuable contribution to the UK’s Government’s targets for renewable energy generation, ecological and landscape enhancements,” they say in the planning documents.
“The development proposal meets the requirements of the NPPFF’s presumption in favour of sustainable development and is in accordance with the adopted Development Plan at Stroud District Council.
“On that basis, it is considered that planning permission should be granted, subject to the imposition of necessary planning conditions.”
District planners are expected to consider and decide the plans by December this year.
Stroud District Council has been approached for comment.