Heritage experts call for rethink on Ludlow solar farm plans
A decion on a controversial solar farm in Shropshire has been put back another month, over concerns about the impact on a historical country estate.
Plans for panels on farmland at the Henley Hall estate on the outskirts of Ludlow were expected to be decided upon at the start of June, but heritage experts told developers Kronos Solar to go back to the drawing board.
Both Historic England and Shropshire Council's heritage officers raised concerns that the panels were too close to the border of the stately home's gardens, and could harm the area's heritage.
But despite a redraw of the plans to set up a "clear belt" between the solar panels and the gardens, now Historic England has said it is still not satisfied, forcing the application to be pulled from the agenda of Shropshire Council's south planning committee once more.
In a letter to the council, Ross Brazier, for Historic England, said the plans did not include "sufficient analysis" of Henley Hall's setting and the possible impact on it.
"The application lacks visual montages or analysis of views from within the parkland and the listed structures which we would expect, to demonstrate any potential impact (or lack of)," he said.
He said the application should be refused or deferred until the heritage issues are resolved. Planning permission was due to be decided upon on July 14, having been rescheduled from June. It is not yet known if the plans will be rescheduled to be heard once more for August.
The fresh dispute comes after a row over whether building the 22,000-panel solar farm on 33 acres would amount to "industrialising" the area around the 18th century Grade II listed building and gardens.
