Campaigners fume as developers jump hurdle on way to Telford solar farm

Anti Lilleshall solar farm campaigners have reacted furiously after council officials told developers of a near 150 acre scheme that they would not need to present a full environmental assessment of its impact.

The decision means that Greenvolt Power/Willmoor Solar is a step closer to submitting a planning application to Telford and Wrekin Council for the proposed 30MW development.

"The opinion of the Local Planning Authority is the proposal does not fall as an EIA development and that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not necessary," planners announced this week.

Opponents of the project are furious, and believe the decision is a huge failing that could leave the council open to a judicial review from residents.

Ward councillor Andrew Eade (Conservative, Church Aston and Lilleshall) said: “A massive development of this size will disfigure our surrounding countryside for generations to come, and allowing a planning application to be submitted without a full impact assessment is, I believe, legally flawed.

“The proposed solar farm site is not only honeycombed with old limestone workings but is also prime agricultural land surrounded by numerous heritage assets, a local nature reserve, and public rights of way, which collectively mandates a comprehensive Environmental Statement.”

“Not only does Telford & Wrekin Council’s local plan give a green light to concrete over huge swathes of our countryside, but they have let us all down by allowing an application for this solar farm to proceed without first investigating the huge impact and consequences such a development will have on its own community."

Environmental impact assessments are specialist pieces of work that often take many months to complete and can cost developers tens of thousands of pounds.

The developers will still be required to present assessments and propose mitigations as a part of the planning application process.

They still have a number of hurdles to clear before they can plug in the 30MW solar farm on the 58 hectare site.

Planners at the council have identified several issues, including much of the site being a wetland area possibly containing protected bats and great crested newts.

They will also have to deal with traffic in Willmoor Lane, noise and vibration during construction, and the combined impact of this on top of huge housing schemes on the cards for north Telford.

It would also bring a transformer, a substation and a connection to the power grid.

The development would be accessed off Willmoor Lane, a narrow residential road which turns into a single track used by agricultural machinery to access the fields.

The developers will need to focus on the impact of the delivery and construction phase, planners note.

Existing land is all agricultural with the exception of the wetland areas, planners record. But the proposed development is reversible and the land could be returned to agricultural, they add.

On surface water, the site has areas of high, medium and low surface water risks and also a "multitude of ponds".

The area is a recognised locally as priority wetland habitat although it does not meet national listing criteria.

It could have great crested newts and is highly likely to be used by protected species, including bats, planners say.

They write: "Whilst the proposed development may result in some habitat disturbance and has the potential to affect priority species, any effects are considered to be localised and capable of being avoided, mitigated or compensated for through the planning process."

Planners say that there are reports of abandoned limestone workings in the area which would need to "fully review matters of geology and stability."

Officials have pointed out that the site is in mineral safeguarding area for brick clay.

But as there are other sites where it can be extracted at the moment it is not needed. And it being a solar farm would mean it could be available for mineral extraction in the future.

Officials judge that noise, dust and vibration during construction can be controlled by best practice.

Developer website:

Opponents online petition, now with more than 480 names, is here: