Land at Tregorrick Farm, St Austell, Cornwall

a ground mounted solar PV farm with battery storage and associated infrastructure

Authority: Cornwall Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: utilities-energy · Minor general industry/storage/warehousing
Inspector: Pope N

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether any adverse effects of the proposed development, with particular regard to the likely impact upon the character and appearance of the area, including the setting of the AONB; the agricultural industry and the need to protect the best and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land; and archaeological interests, would outweigh the benefits of the proposal, including the production of energy from a renewable resource

What decided it

The serious adverse impact upon the character and appearance of the area, including the setting of the AONB, arising from the conspicuous and incongruous appearance of the solar arrays on the elevated and prominent site, outweighed the benefits of renewable energy generation.

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: LP policy 14, LP policy 21, LP policy 23, LP policy 24, DPD policy RE1, MP policy PD-P11, MP policy PD-P14

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.