Bid for solar farm at site in Northumberland turned down by councillors

There were 18 objections to the bid by Developer Genesis One at a site east of West Chevington Farm, as well as four supportive comments.

Following a discussion, the majority of Northumberland County Council Castle Morpeth Local Area Council members who were present for the vote at its meeting on Monday agreed with a proposal to refuse the plans because of the harmful impact it would have on the grade II listed building recognised as West Chevington Farmhouse.

Objectors had also raised concerns relating to highway and fire safety, the scheme’s ecological impact, and the effect on residential amenity for the site’s neighbours.

The development would have consisted of 256 solar panels, carbon capture pods located in the ground beneath, and other supporting infrastructure, with an expected lifespan of 40 years.

The land is currently used for the storage of machinery and excavated material from the nearby holiday accommodation development.

The planning officer report said the environmental benefits of the scheme, which would have generated renewable energy for the holiday homes and allowed them to be taken off the grid, should be given “positive weight” when deciding on the application and referring to the impact on West Chevington Farmhouse, it said “the public benefits outweigh this harm”.

However, the reason for refusal published following the meeting says: “No public benefits have been demonstrated that outweigh this level of harm, with the LPA (Local Planning Authority) considering the benefits would be private to the applicant.”

West Chevington resident Peter Rodenby contacted the Gazette after the meeting and his statement included the following.

“The boundary of the solar farm was ten metres from the boundary of two cottages, a little over the width of a single track road.

“There were a number of concerns we shared and in our opinion, if this scheme had gone ahead it was setting a very major precedent for Northumberland. Any patch of land could be a solar farm anywhere.

“I would have strongly recommended the committee visit the site before they made any decision. But as it happened, they saw the implications. We are all very grateful.”