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Allowed5 March 20243323065

Land Se of Poplar Farm, Harps Hall Road, Walton Highway, Wisbech, PE14 7DL

Planning appeal 3323065 at Land Se of Poplar Farm, Harps Hall Road, Walton Highway, Wisbech, PE14 7DL (King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council) was allowed on 5 March 2024 by Inspector Parker C, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the Fenland Landscape.

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
Postcode
PE14 7DL

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.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Policy DM 20Policy DM 2Policy CS12Policy DM15
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 180Paragraph 181Paragraph 56

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.

See how each was applied

The decision letter

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More decisions in King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2024

  1. Dismissed1 April 20263372985
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  2. Dismissed20 March 20266003441
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  3. Allowed20 October 20253369175
    18 Tuesday Market Place, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1JW
  4. Dismissed17 October 20253369402
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  5. Allowed10 October 20253368328
    Oaklands, Little Lane, Docking, King's Lynn, Norfolk, PE31 8NT

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.