Solar Farms around Welby

In terms of Solar Farms the Parish Council is fully engaged with the consultations being held by the various companies and is aligned with our Town Councillor.

Our position is to explore the impact on agriculture and farming (although we are aware that most of the land under consideration is grade 3b - the lowest quality agricultural land not used in the main for food production) wildlife, road safety, air and flight safety, any benefits for the village, length of works and likely disruption, ongoing need for onsite working, screening, lighting and security of this CNI, impact on the national grid and local transformers and understanding the planning considerations that the companies have or have not considered.

We are also aware that the landowners are likely to receive substantial and ongoing rent for the land over the lifetime of the projects (roughly each of these has a 40 year lifespan)

As a Parish Council we will then consider our final position in relation to every submission once plans are lodged.

Planning Process

It may be prudent to consider a few basic principles when it comes to planning applications of this nature:

Planning applications are subject to UK law and as such any appeals can only be considered when they meet specific criteria. There is an excellent description on the SKDC website when considering making submissions. Any reasons that do not meet these criteria will not be considered.
Solar farms have the attention of the national government which also means that Westminster has a keen interest in the right applications succeeding. That has in the past resulted in local and regional objections at times being overruled which does however not mean that local objections can not be successful. In specific cases local objections have been successful but these need to be very targeted and fall withing the planning legislation.
Criteria that can be considered when making submissions include:
- Habitats of endangered species being threatened: solar farm applications usually conduct surveys which show there is no such danger.
- Important historical remains that could be disturbed: again, surveys are usually conducted to show there is no danger.
- Quality of the farm land being used: typically high grade land should be avoided and only low grade (grade 3b) land should be used. This is an important point to consider as all land under consideration is currently in agricultural use.
- Potential noise pollution: both batteries and inverters are housed in small buildings to protect them. Whilst the equipment itself is practically noiseless they do generate heat which means they need air conditioning which is far from noiseless. If situated close to dwellings this noise could be intrusive. Church Lane Solar Farm do not propose to use batteries but will need inverters.
- The South Kesteven District Local Plan 2011-2036 does not make any provision for solar farms.
- Any public rights of way need to be protected – we are not aware that any are impacted by the current proposals.
- Wild life corridors: for very large sites suitable consideration should be given to wild life being able to pass through the site.
And most importantly to make sure your opinion is counted, never just copy and paste reasons but always use your own words as otherwise they won’t be counted.

Also it might be opportune to write to our local MP (Gareth Davies MP: https://www.garethdavies.co.uk/ ) and point out the following. Allowing not one but three solar farms in the immediate neighbourhood of Welby is a bit generous and a more equitable distribution around the country would be more appropriate. That way suitable geographical distancing can be obtained so that no solar farms will be built close to any dwellings. In addition the South Kesteven District Local Plan 2011-2036 does not make any provision for solar farms.