Waltham solar farm approved after scaling back size

A solar farm in North East Lincolnshire has been approved by the council after plans were slashed by the developer.

Renewable Connections initially wanted to build a 49.9MW plant on a 308-acre (125-hectare) site near Waltham, to power about 27,000 homes.

However, following safety concerns, the developer said it scaled back its proposals by more than 30% "to reflect feedback".

Councillors unanimously approved the planning application on Wednesday.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a 10MW battery storage unit and a 75ft (23m) mast, which allows the plant to connect to the National Grid system, have also been given approval.

The whole site, on fields off Bradley Road, has been reduced to just under 203 acres (82 hectares) with the plant's capacity reduced to 43.7MW, which could power 17,694 homes.

LDRS said there were three objections to the initial proposals.

Barnoldby Parish Council had raised fire safety concerns despite no objections made by Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.

In a planning meeting, Jack Halstead, development manager at Renewable Connections, said plans had evolved to reflect feedback, including a reduction of site area by 34%.

He said the site would allow for biodiversity and agricultural activities to continue including allowing sheep to graze under the solar panels and for cereal crops to grow, as well as creating a "community benefit fund".

"This project will contribute to improving energy security and stability," he said.

Another firm, Aura Power, received planning permission in November 2022 for a 49.9MW solar farm about five miles (8km) away from the planned Renewable Connections site, located between Healing and Laceby.

Construction on that project was expected to start in 2024 but the company has pushed that back to summer 2025.

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