Protesters turn out to battle Ludlow solar farm bid
Campaigners fighting plans to build thousands of solar panels on land in south Shropshire say they left a planning inspector in "no doubt" about the strength of feeling against the proposal.
EBS Energy wants to put more than 13,000 solar panels on 24 acres of greenfield land between Whitton and Caynham, near Ludlow.
And yesterday's visit by the planning inspectorate was part of the energy company's appeal against a Shropshire Council decision to refuse the original application.
An earlier application by the company for a 43-acre solar farm on the same site had also been refused and the appeal turned down.
Attending the site visit yesterday, along with the planning inspector, was Peter van Duijvenvoorde, chairman of the Save South Shropshire Countryside group (SSSC), Pauline Atkinson from the same group, Shropshire Council's planning officer Grahame French, a director of EBS Energy and two of his paid consultants.
Mr van Duijvenvoorde said he thought the visit had gone well and was grateful so many residents had turned out for it.
He said: "Over 50 residents were present during the site visit, which shows the strength of local feeling over this issue.
"This included several farmers, many of who have diversified into businesses like tourism and now worry that construction of a solar farm could have a major impact upon them.
"We we were allowed to tour the site with the inspector, walked a popular local footpath with elevated views of the site and visited three properties which have a clear view of the solar farm if it were built.
"It was clear that the inspector had to be impartial and could give nothing away about his feelings on the proposal or the future of the appeal."
One of SSSC's major concerns about the EBS proposal is the fact that the application includes all the land that was a part of the original 43 acre-site solar farm plan.
Mr van Duijvenvoorde said: "If EBS got permission to build the small solar farm the worry is they could then develop it into a larger one and end up with the 43-acre farm they originally wanted.
"The impact a solar farm could have on the area cannot be over-stated and it would certainly have a negative effect on tourism.
"The land the site wants to use is high quality land that should be made use of for agriculture; we should be harvesting food and not installing solar panels."
The planning inspector said that he hoped to have reached a decision on the appeal by May 10.
