®Planning appeal decision
Land north east of Wandon End, North Hertfordshire, LU2 8PS
the construction, operation and decommissioning of a solar farm with the capability to export and import up to 49.9MW of electricity at any time, comprising the installation of ground mounted fixed solar panels, associated energy storage and ancillary development including customer and DNO substation, inverter and transformer stations, fencing, security cameras, landscape planting and associated works including grid connection
- Authority
- North Hertfordshire District Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
- Inspector
- Partington A
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether or not the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt for the purposes of the development plan and the National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework)
- The effect of the proposal on the openness and purposes of the Green Belt
- The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the site and the surrounding area, including the visual effect on users of the Public Rights of Way (PRoW) network
- If the proposal in inappropriate development, whether the harm 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 it
What decided it
The substantial public benefit of rapid renewable energy generation, energy security and use of available grid capacity outweighed the moderate landscape/visual harm and less than substantial heritage harm identified.
The less than substantial harm to heritage assets and moderate adverse landscape/visual harm were outweighed by the substantial weight given to renewable energy generation, energy security and grid capacity use, together with significant weight to battery storage and biodiversity benefits and moderate weight to economic benefits, justifying allowing the appeal other than in accordance with the development plan.
Framework references: 154, 155, 156, 143, 187, 57
Plan policies cited: SP5, NE2, NE12, D1, SP12, D3, D4, T1, NE4, NE11, HE4, NE8, SP19
Judgments cited: Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, R (on the application of) v Epping Forest District Council & Anor (Rev 1) [2016] EWCA Civ 404
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.