Solar Farm Appeal Lodged

The applicant has lodged a formal appeal against the refusal of planning permission. The appeal reference is APP/K2420/A/13/2198127. The appeal is to be determined by "Written Representation". Under this process the Local Authority and the Appellant must make their written case (statement) and send to the Inspector by 15th July 2013. The Local Authority and the Appellant then have until the 5th August to comment on each others statement and also comments from interested persons. The inspector will then make a determination based upon the written evidence - we do not know timescales for this. We expect a site visit to be made but this has not been confirmed.

The Local Authority have written to anybody who has previously commented advising that their comments will be forwarded to the Inspector. You are able make further comments, modify or withdraw previous comments.A guide to taking part in appeals (Written Representation) can be found here http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/pins/taking-part_planning-written.pdf

Solar Farm Application Refused

We get to keep our view and open countryside

There were sighs of relief in a packed public gallery when the majority of HBBC councillors voted against the controversial application to build a 16.4 acre solar panel farm on countryside adjacent to the recreation ground in Stoke Golding. This will come as a massive relief to the majority of villagers, both verbal and silent, who are against the scheme.

The discussion was once again intense and varied but it became abundantly clear that the councillors had been provided with excellent background information and that the options had been more thoroughly investigated following the previous planning meeting. The months delay in the decision had further ensured that councillors had the opportunity to make sure they were more fully informed. The additional knowledge that a recent similar case in Devon showing that the councillors could turn down the application and also potentially win following a subsequent appeal, was further valuable information to them.

When it came to the all-important vote, nine councillors were against the development and only three voted for it to go ahead. There were five abstentions from councillors who continue to be unsure which way they should vote on this landmark case. The villagers present were disappointed to note that Reg Ward (the local Borough Councillor and Chair of Stoke Golding Parish Council), voted for the application to proceed despite the Parish Council twice submitting a statement to HBBC backing the village action group SGCRAG in its objection to the solar farm.

It is clear that if the application had been passed this would have allowed Freetricity and other similar companies to push for further locations adjacent to villages around the country, thus cutting their ‘connection to the grid’ fees enormously.

The community action group, SGCRAG is indebted to the many councillors who supported them on the night but also to David Tredinnick MP, County-Councillor Ivan Ould, Cllr Michael Mullaney and Cllr Bill Crooks (through his responsibility for rural interests) who have taken much interest in this application. Their combined knowledge and support during an arduous journey through procedure has been invaluable and much appreciated. SGCRAG has worked extremely hard for the past five months to ensure as many people as possible were aware of the proposed development. This was achieved by holding information providing meetings in the village, information leaflets and an updated information blog and Facebook page.

The group has announced that it will continue to work together for the benefit of the community on other local projects in the village.

Finding your way around

If you live in Stoke Golding you should have received a leaflet which tells you what has been going on and what you can do. If you haven't seen the leaflet you can find it here. Hopefully this answers many of the question you might have, but there is a wealth of information around. This post is intended to help you find your way around the available information to help you make up your mind and formulate your comments

You will probably want to look at the latest plans. You can look at these on the Hinckley Council planning portal, but for convenience we have made them available through the "Documents" page of this website. On this page you will also find the reports we commissioned from a planning consultancy and a chartered landscape architect. The planning officers report which recommends approval will also be found here. They will have to rewrite this before the next planning committee meeting on 26th March.

The "Objections" page documents concerns that residents have expressed. We are focusing our case on visual impact and landscape character although there are still other outstanding issues. The leaflet contains some information on submitting comments which we urge you to do. You will find more guidance on the Objections page and the Contacts page contains further contact information. Finally the FAQs page contains responses to some of the questions we have been asked.

We really do now believe that we can win this battle. The last vote was very tight and we now realise that we can do more to better inform Councillors  This coupled with a final show of strength from the community may well be enough to win the day. So please do write in.

Thank you for you continued support.

Stop Press - Solar Farm not approved

Contrary to the previous post, the Solar Farm application is NOT approved.

For some time now, the Stoke Golding Concerned Residents  Action Group (SGCRAG) has been arguing that the public should have been reconsulted on revised plans to the screening proposals which were submitted in January (after the closing date for comments). This has been falling on deaf ears. However subsequent to the last planning committee meeting we found hard evidence that the council had not followed their own published procedures for public consultation and we raised an objection prior to the formal Decision Notice being issued. They have clearly concluded that we were right as they have now reopened the application for public comment.

HBBC have sent letters to everybody who had previously commented. The public now has until the 15th March to submit any further comments. The application will go back to the planning committee to be determined on 26th March.

Please do use this opportunity to comment or recomment. On the "documents" page of this blog you will find links to the latest application documents and you will also find reports from experts commissioned by SGCRAG. The "objections" page tells you how to comment.

Solar Farm Approved

On Tuesday 19 February Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Planning Committee met to consider, amongst other items, the application to build 7,800 solar panels on land next to the village recreation ground.

There was a packed public gallery and the atmosphere was tense. Many villagers came to protest against the proposal and held posters and flyers to make their views clear. The arguments against the proposal were set out by Bernard Lamb in a concise and eloquent presentation. A representative from Freetricity then put the case for the development.

After much debate, one councillor suggested that they reject the planning application. This was put to a vote which split the Planning Committee. A further question was put to the Committee – to support the Planning Officer’s recommendation to agree the application.

Unfortunately, Cllr. Reg Ward, Chair of Stoke Golding Parish Council, decided not to oppose the application.

Cllr. Ward had already been quoted on the proposal: “The action group have put together a comprehensive case with valid reasons against this proposal and we have to hope this will be taken into account when the decision is made next week”. But, when it came to the vote, he did not oppose the plan. This extraordinary u-turn caused an uproar in the gallery as villagers left shouting “Shame on you, Reg”.

The planning application went through.
The Stoke Golding Concerned Residents Action Group is considering its options.

Solar Farm Decision Deferred - but the fight continues

Villagers fill the public gallery

Over 60 residents attended the Planning Committee meeting on Tue 22^nd Jan. A packed public gallery heard the committee vote to defer the decision on the application until the next meeting on Tue 19^th February. The reason for the deferral is that the planners have failed to consult Sport England. Sport England is a statutory consultee where there is a development which is likely to prejudice the use of a playing field. Sport England will now be consulted and we are hopeful that they will properly address the concerns of the cricketers whose objections we feel have been ignored by HBBC.

A week prior to this, the planning officers report to the Planning Committee recommended approval of the application. Our concerns about visual impact and change in character of the area have been ignored, with the planning officer making statements such as “… there are not considered to be any adverse impacts arising from the siting of the development on either the character of the surrounding countryside or landscape, or in terms of visual amenity…”. We think this is outrageous and we are not taking it lying down. We have paid for professional advice from a planning consultancy and they have written on our behalf addressing flaws in the planning officer’s report. The letter was sent on 17^th Jan and we are still awaiting a response.

There have been many further changes to the application over the past few weeks. You will find these on HBBCs planning portal.

·         A second flood risk assessment has been submitted by Freetricity – this has been rejected by the Environment Agency.

·         There are revised planting proposals. We still say these will not work and will do little to mitigate the impact.

·         The oak tree is now to be retained. However the number of solar panels has grown to 7870 we are not sure where the extra panels are located.

We are not being consulted on any of these changes as the deadline for comments has passed. We are saying this is not right; screening and landscaping is a material concern and should be subject to public consultation and scrutiny.

So mixed news really, but we are convinced of our objection case and we are buoyed by the massive support from the community - so the fight goes on. We are regrouping to consider our next steps.

Inside the Stoker you will find an article on how the community has pulled together to oppose the solar farm.

Thank you for your continued support