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Allowed13 February 20233300299

Fern Brook Solar Farm, Land at Park Farm, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8 5JG

Planning appeal 3300299 at Fern Brook Solar Farm, Land at Park Farm, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8 5JG (Dorset) was allowed on 13 February 2023 by Inspector Ware P, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The effect on the character and appearance of the landscape.

the construction of a solar photovoltaic farm, battery storage and associated infrastructure, including inverters, batteries, substations, security cameras, fencing, access tracks and landscaping

Authority
Dorset
Appeal type
major · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Inquiry
Development
utilities-energy · Major general industry/storage/warehousing
Inspector
Ware P
Postcode
SP8 5JG

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • The effect on the character and appearance of the landscape
  • The effect on the setting of designated and non-designated heritage assets

What decided it

The exceptionally weighty public benefits of renewable energy provision and addressing climate change significantly and demonstrably outweighed the limited landscape and heritage harm identified.

The limited harm to landscape character and the less than substantial harm to heritage assets were significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the public benefits of the scheme, particularly the exceptionally weighty need for renewable energy, tipping the balance in favour of allowing the appeal.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Policy GRF1LP Policy 4LP Policy 5LP Policy 21LP Policy 22NP Policy MOT5NP Policy MOT7
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 174Paragraph 158
Judgments
Stroud District Council v SSCLG and Gladman Developments Ltd. [2015] WL 849499

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

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The decision letter

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4 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision
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More decisions in Dorset

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2023

  1. Dismissed12 August 20266007277
    Shady Glades, Long Lane, Wimborne, BH21 7AQ
  2. Allowed24 June 20266004904
    Twin Pines, Grange Road, St Leonards & St Ives, BH24 2QE
  3. Dismissed27 April 20266004216
    Casterbridge Industrial Estate, Access Lane to Casterbridge Industrial Estate, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1PL
  4. Dismissed4 March 20266002355
    Southover Farm, Tolpuddle, Dorset, DT2 7HE
  5. Dismissed15 December 20256000807
    4 Locks Lane, Glanvilles Wootton, Sherborne, Dorset/England, DT9 5QE

The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every appeal around it, with its letter to read and the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out.