Manuden solar farm bid to be decided by planning inspector

A renewable energy firm has applied to the government to build a solar farm in rural Essex equal to the size of about 126 football pitches.

Low Carbon Solar Park Limited wants to build on a 79-hectare (0.3sq miles) farm near a National Grid substation in Manuden, near Bishop's Stortford.

The company claimed the site would provide enough energy to power more than 16,500 homes.

Local councillors say they are worried about the damage to agricultural land.

The plan was refused by an Uttlesford District Council planning committee in January 2022, but the government stripped the council of its ability to determine applications the following month and said developers could go directly to the Planning Inspectorate.

The council is run by the Residents for Uttlesford party.

The planning committee discussed the company's latest proposal at a meeting earlier on Wednesday.

Committee chairman Sandi Merifield, from Residents for Uttlesford, questioned whether the farm could still generate a peak capacity of 49.99 megawatts despite the firm reducing the proposed size by 10%.

The company refers to the proposal as a temporary solar farm which will return the land to agricultural use after 40 years.

Councillor Janice Loughlin, from the Liberal Democrat and Green Alliance - according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service - said: "I'm rather afraid that this huge solar farm, combined with the others in the same area, are going to have a very big impact."

The council said there were six other separate applications pending for renewable energy projects, including solar farms, in the surrounding area.

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