Solar farms in Shropshire: What's next?
Whenever there have been placard-waving protesters outside council planning meetings this year, it's a fair bet that a solar farm is at the heart of the argument.
They divide opinion like no other application which goes before the committees in Telford and the rest of Shropshire.
Bid after bid has gone in to Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council, with the green and rolling hills of the county seen as prime locations for large-scale solar farms.
People in favour – and the developers behind such schemes – are quick to shout about the benefits.
Solar power supplied 15 per cent of the UK's electricity during the recent heatwave and is lauded as a clean, green alternative to rapidly dwindling fossil fuels.
Government subsidies have made it a boom business – there are more than 700,000 now all over the country.
Solar farms also benefit the people who live by them as well, developers are keen to stress.
Vogt Solar has just submitted an application to Telford & Wrekin Council to build on 19 acres at Cheshire Coppice Farm in Bratton.
Sarah Bower, for Vogt Solar, said it would be in place for 25 years and house thousands of panels to meet the electricity requirements of on average about 1,500 UK homes per year.
But there will be other benefits too.
"The farm would save about 2,150 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, or more than 50,000 over the 25-year life of the development," she said.
Community benefits too.
