Derbyshire: Bid to build two new solar farms between villages

An energy firm wants to create two new solar farms spanning 328 acres between two Derbyshire villages.

The sites earmarked for the farms are north of Denby and north of Smalley and sit 500m apart.

Each solar farm would produce 40 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

The government would usually decide whether planning permission is granted for a solar farm producing 50MW, but Amber Valley Borough Council will have the final say on each application.

Reports on the environmental impact of the solar farms have been sent to the council before full planning applications are submitted and the firm has claimed neither would have a significant impact.

The Denby Farm scheme would be built on a 148-acre site off Derby Road, Denby and is near the Denby Pottery complex, where a two-megawatt solar array was installed earlier this year.

The Kidsley Park Farm project would be built on a 180-acre site off Heanor Road, Smalley, covering fields between Heanor and the village, , the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It said the sites were formerly used for coal mining before being restored to agricultural fields, and have been rated as low-quality farming land.

Intelligent Alternatives said the proposals would "result in harm to the openness of the Green Belt", but claims it would "not be significant as a result of their low-level nature and the potential for landscaping to be deployed to minimise impacts".

"These factors will ensure that the openness of the Green Belt is not unduly harmed," it said. "They would not contribute towards coalescence (merging of communities)."

It added each scheme would be "fully reversible" and the solar panels would be removed to restore the land to its current condition.

The developers added the solar farms would contribute to government targets to tackle climate change and net-zero carbon emissions.

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