Land at East Marsh, S of Gunthorpe Road, W of Flowers Farm and Frenchs Road, The Marsh, Walpole St Andrew, PE14

installation of a solar farm and battery storage facility with associated infrastructure. Appeal B: APP/V2635/W/22/3295141 Gunthorpe Road Solar Farm, Land south of Gunthorpe Road, Walpole Marsh, Wisbech near PE14 7JH

Authority: South Holland District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: utilities-energy · Minor general industry/storage/warehousing
Inspector: Thompson P

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposed development on the use of best and most versatile agricultural land

What decided it

The significant environmental and energy security benefits of the renewable energy scheme, combined with the temporary and reversible nature of the agricultural land loss and the absence of viable alternative sites on non-BMV land, outweighed the moderate conflict with development plan policies on best and most versatile agricultural land.

Framework references: 158, 174, 175

Plan policies cited: Policy DM20, Policy 31

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.