Shropshire Star

Government called to look again at Shropshire solar farm

Controversial plans to build a giant solar farm outside a Shropshire village are to be referred to Whitehall in a bid to get them looked at again.

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Planning officers at Shropshire Council used delegated powers to grant planning permission for developers to construct the solar panel units on 42 acres of farmland at Sheriffhales, near Shifnal.

The decision came just months after the county council's planning committee threw out plans to build a much bigger solar farm – covering an area of more than 116 acres – on the same farm.

It would have made it the biggest solar farm in the county.

But Sheriffhales Parish Council has voted to refer the decision to grant planning permission to the Secretary of State in the hope it will be "called in" for another look.

Vice-chairman Councillor Gordon Tonkinson said the decision was taken after a vote at a meeting held at the village hall.

He had originally branded the decision to grant planning permission behind closed doors as "absolutely appalling".

He said there was something "radically wrong" and argued that there were thousands of factory roofs all over the country which were better suited to the installation of solar panels.

"They should not be going on good farmland," he said.

"I believe that Shropshire Council, with all the evidence before them going back a long time, made an irrational decision in granting planning permission without it going to committee."

Councillor Tonkinson added: "We want to put all of our points of view across to the Secretary of State and hope that he will call it in for further examination."

Developer Lightsource Renewable Energy lodged an appeal with Government planning inspectors to overturn the decision in December last year.

That has now been withdrawn after the second application, which will see one field built on instead of three, was pushed through.

The first application was refused on the grounds that it would swallow up land that could have been used for farming and agriculture.

Officials at Shropshire Council said they did not wish to comment any further on the planning application after issuing a full statement last week on the reasons for permission being granted.

Operations manager Ian Kilby said it was a "significantly smaller" scheme than the one that had been previously refused – and claimed there was more support than opposition in the community for the revised application.

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