®Planning appeal decision
Land North of Lullington, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE12 8EW
for the installation of ground mounted solar photovoltaic panels with associated infrastructure and works, including substations, converters, inverters, access tracks, security fencing, boundary treatment and CCTV on land to the north of Lullington, Swadlincote DE12 8EW
- Authority
- South Derbyshire District Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- utilities-energy · Major offices/R&D/light industry
- Inspector
- Thomas G
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the effect of the proposed development on the use of best and most versatile agricultural land, including consideration of site selection processes
- the landscape and visual impacts arising from the appeal scheme
- whether there would be unacceptable impacts on the significance of identified heritage assets
What decided it
The loss of almost 50% of the site's best and most versatile agricultural land over a 40-year period, without compelling evidence that no lower-quality land was available, was found to outweigh the renewable energy and other benefits.
the significant benefits of renewable energy generation, biodiversity net gain and job creation were outweighed by the harm from the loss of almost half the site's best and most versatile agricultural land over 40 years
Framework references: 152, 153, 155, 158, 174, 175
Plan policies cited: Policy BNE4, Policy BNE5, Policy SD6, Policy BNE2
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.