®Planning appeal decision
Land SE of Poplar Farm, Harps Hall Road, Walton Highway, Wisbech, PE14 7DL
Installation, operation and decommissioning of a solar farm comprising an array of ground mounted solar PV panels and battery storage system with associated infrastructure including inverters and a substation compound as well as fencing, security cameras, cabling and biodiversity enhancement measures
- Authority
- King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- utilities-energy · Major offices/R&D/light industry
- Inspector
- Parker C
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the Fenland Landscape
- The effect of the proposal on Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land
- The overall planning balance, whether public benefits outweigh any harms identified
What decided it
The substantial benefits of renewable energy generation, supported by compelling evidence justifying the use of BMVAL, outweighed the limited and mitigable harms to landscape character and agricultural land.
The low-to-moderate, largely mitigable harms to landscape character and the temporary loss of BMVAL for arable farming were outweighed by the substantial benefit of renewable energy generation and the moderate benefit of biodiversity net gain, with the balance tipping clearly in favour of granting permission.
Framework references: 180, 181, 56
Plan policies cited: Policy DM 20, Policy DM 2, Policy CS12, Policy DM15
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.