®Planning appeal decision
Land To The West Of Wood Lane And Stocking Lane, Kingston Estate , Gotham, Nottinghamshire, NG11 0LF
the installation of a renewable energy generating solar farm comprising ground-mounted photovoltaic solar arrays, together with substation, inverter stations, security measures, site access, internal access tracks and other ancillary infrastructure, including landscaping and biodiversity enhancements
- Authority
- Rushcliffe Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
- Inspector
- Partington A
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the proposed development on the openness of the Green Belt and the purposes of including land within it
- The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the landscape
- The effect of the proposed development on users of the nearby public rights of way network
- Whether the harm to Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify the proposed development
What decided it
The cumulative Green Belt harm (inappropriateness, openness and purpose conflict), together with landscape and rights of way harm, was not clearly outweighed by the renewable energy and other benefits, so very special circumstances were not demonstrated.
The substantial weight attached to Green Belt harm, combined with landscape character and rights of way harm, was not clearly outweighed by the substantial weight given to renewable energy benefits, significant weight to biodiversity/environmental benefits and limited weight to economic benefits, so the balance tipped against the proposal.
Framework references: 143, 153, 180, 131
Plan policies cited: Policy 16 of LP2, Policy 21 of LP2, Policy 2 of LP1, Policy 10 of LP1, Policy 34 of LP2
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.