Land To North Of Stretton Road, Morton, Alfreton, DE55 6HA

the installation and operation of a renewable energy generating station comprising of ground-mounted photovoltaic solar arrays together with inverter/transformer units, BESS units, control house, substation, onsite grid connection equipment, storage containers, site access, access gates, internal access tracks, security measures, other ancillary infrastructure, and landscaping and biodiversity enhancements

Authority: North East Derbyshire District Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
Inspector: Hughes L

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The main issue is the effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area.

What decided it

The cumulative, layered landscape and visual harm to the character and appearance of the area, especially from the colliery tip viewpoint and Evershill Lane/PROW, was found to carry determinative weight over the renewable energy and other benefits.

Significant benefits from renewable energy provision, energy security, site selection, economic benefits, biodiversity net gain and public access were outweighed by the significant harm to the character and appearance of the area, resulting in dismissal.

Framework references: 187, 168, 163

Plan policies cited: Policy SDC10, Policy SS9, Policy SDC3, Policy SDC12, Policy ID8, Policy ID7, Policy SDC4, Policy SS1

Judgments cited: Holborn Studios Ltd judgement

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

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.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.