Hatton Solar Farm recommended for approval

Hatton Solar Farm wants permission from East Lindsey District Council for the plans on land adjacent to Sotby Woods on Sturton Road, Hatton.

The farm hopes to produce around 49.99MW for around 40 years.

Renewable energy developer Push Energy and consultants Sustainable Planning Design Studio say it will be enough to power around 21,000 UK homes.

The plans have been met with objection from both Hatton Parish Meeting and Baumber Parish Council whose criticisms include the loss of agricultural land, the impact on the landscape, the transport infrastructure and a lack of consultation and information.

Baumber Parish Council Clerk Melvin Grosvenor has described the plans as “fundamentally flawed”:

“We are deeply concerned that the officer’s report has recommended approval, despite the report clearly stating that it is sensitive site and in close proximity to local residents and it is surprising that the planning officers have not considered the views of the parish council or local residents.

"Valuable farm land should not be taken out of production, and the report is fundamentally flawed and the planning officers have ignored all of the concerns.”

Some departments at Lincolnshire County Council have also objected saying it could “have an impact on food security and the local rural economy”. Officers have called for bridleways and footpaths across the land to be protected.

County councillor William Gray, ward member for Horncastle & The Keals, said: “The loss of amenity here will be huge, as well as a huge impact on the residents and food security as this is Grade 2 and 3 agricultural land.

"There’s a lot of people who live near the boundary, and 30 dwellings within the half a mile and eight right on the boundary, so they will look through their windows and all they will see is these solar panels.

"I’ve received so many emails and calls from people who are concerned about this.”

More than 200 people have written to the council, with 108 letters of support and 94 letters of objection, with objectors stating fears that the panels will lead to a number of other issues including loss of view, glare from the equipment, and noise pollution, and a fear.

Ruchira Yarsley, spokesman for the Hatton SIU [Solar Industrial Unit] Action Group, said that the residents fear that once there is a case for this solar farm to come to Hatton, others will follow:

"We are a tiny hamlet with a Gas Compressor station, a 132Kv substation that supports that, then a solar farm 182 acres large and another 132KV gas substation in a totally different area of the village, the cumulative impact on this hamlet will be untold,” she said.

"This will no longer be a rural agricultural hamlet, but a Megawatt Industrial Site!”

Those in support of the plans though point out that the solar farm is reversible, and the site already has planning permission for a gas power station. They add that it will only take up 0.00042% of the district’s land.

The developers said the plans will help the district meet net zero carbon emissions targets and will significantly enhance biodiversity.

Recommending approval, officers said that both national and local policies supported the principle of renewable energy.

“Whilst it does involve the loss of prime agricultural land for a period of 40 years, this does not equate to grounds for refusal because the benefits of the scheme and the wider policy support outweigh this,” they said.

The plans for Hatton Solar Farm will be discussed at ELDC’s planning committee meeting on Thursday (March 9).An ELDC spokesman said that as this is a live application, they will not be able to comment.

Sustainable Planning Design Studio have been approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of going to press.