The North Warwickshire Borough Council in England has turned down a proposal by UK clean energy company Enviromena to build a 48.9-MWp solar park.
The unfavourable decision was announced by the British developer on Tuesday, saying that the project was dismissed regardless of the positive recommendation by planning officers.
The ruling was issued on the same day new Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves vowed to overhaul planning restrictions and in the same week that three solar projects totalling 1.3 GW were granted development consent orders (DCOs), Enviromena pointed out.
The rejection was made on the grounds that the proposal would be an “inappropriate” development in the Green Belt and would ruin the landscape. The plan was also considered not to be in line with policies from the North Warwickshire Local Plan.
The verdict is due to be appealed by the developer.
“We believe we’ve gone above and beyond the standard requirements in our planning application, not just on landscaping but on flood plans and mitigation [..],” said Mark Harding, Enviromena’s European Development Director. He added that the company sees “no valid planning reasons” for the dismissal.
The contemplated project envisages the installation of photovoltaic (PV) panels across a 150-acre (615.1-ha) site near Fillongley. The plant’s generation is expected to be enough to meet the electricity demand of more than 16,500 homes annually.
Comments