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COUNCILLORS have joined forces with residents to object to plans by Aukera to turn ‘the finest farmland in Cheshire’ into a giant solar panel farm.
Knutsford Town Council and Tabley Parish Council have voted to oppose Tabley Hill Solar Farm because it breaches Cheshire East Council’s bid to protect the greenbelt.
The authority’s solar energy policy states: ‘Proposals should avoid the loss of best and most versatile agricultural land’.
Tatton MP Esther McVey has also expressed her concern and vowed to support residents opposing the scheme.
Rayna Jackson, chairman of Knutsford Solar Action Group, who lives beside the proposed development, said: “This is the first major solar application in the county.
“It covers 70 acres of fully farmed best arable land close to Knutsford.
“If approved, it will be a precedent for all the county’s supply of productive land to be covered with solar panels.
“This is not just a Knutsford matter, it affects the whole of Cheshire.
“This should be worrying for all of us.”
Renewable energy developer Aukera wants to generate 20 megawatts of electricity on land at Dairy House Farm in Over Tabley.
In a 1,600-page planning application, documents list all the equipment that will be needed to install the solar farm, which would operate for 40 years.
Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels would be mounted on metal frames.
CCTV cameras, three metres high, security fencing and motion activate security lighting would be installed.
A design and access statement says: “The proposed development has been sensitively designed with the objective of avoiding adverse effects wherever possible.
“Tree and shrub planting is proposed selectively to provide visual buffering to the solar arrays and to improve local biodiversity.
“There is an opportunity to create new species-rich grassland habitat beneath and around the proposed solar rays.
“These area will establish a diverse ground flora, contributing to the creation of ecologically valuable grassland across the site.
“The proposed development incorporates a landscape buffer around the cemetery and the proposed developable area would be screened in views from within the cemetery by a boundary hedgerow and hedgerow trees.”
Developers say the development has been sensitively designed ‘to avoid adverse effects wherever possible’ (Image: Turley)
Tabley resident Bryan Hartley, a member of Tabley Parish Council, Knutsford Town Council, and cemetery committee, said: “I fully understand the need for renewable energy but we have to consider the impact these developments can have on our countryside.
“Tabley Hill is a very visible part of the landscape around Knutsford.
“It is also very close to our cemetery and its Grade II listed chapel which is a peaceful place for many local families.
“I welcome that developers have listened to some concerns and have introduced a buffer around the cemetery.
“We need to make sure that the proposed development, including the panels, infrastructure, access and construction activity will not have an unacceptable impact on the area.
“They have not submitted an environmental impact assessment.”
The application, number 26/2834/FUL, can be viewed on the planning portal on Cheshire East Council’s website.
The last date for submitting comments is October 15.
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