Plans have been revealed for a 3.5-hectare solar farm

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Wednesday, 5 October 2022 13:04

By Gavin McEwan - Local Democracy Reporter

Plans have been revealed for a 3.5-hectare solar farm at a Herefordshire village.

The planned 1.8 mega watt installation would sit alongside the county’s arterial A49 road at Moreton Business Park, Moreton-on-Lugg, north of Hereford, and would be used exclusively to provide power to the business park.

Isle of Man-registered Great West 2003 submitted a “request for screening opinion” via its agent to Herefordshire Council to establish whether an environmental impact assessment would be required before permission could be granted.

Part of the site currently has a commercial tree crop on it, which would first have to be felled, and a farm shed removed.

But trees along the western and southern edges would be kept to screen the development from the A49 and the village. A 2m-high fence would also go round it, while the surrounding landscape would also be “enhanced”.

This would mitigate what the screening request says would main environmental impact, namely its landscape and visual impact. On the other hand, the plan would “significantly reduce” the business park’s carbon footprint.

The northern part of the site is within flood zone 3, classed as likely to flood more than once every 100 years.

The request letter says the proposal “would have a negligible impact on the surface water run-off and would not impact the drainage strategy of the wider site”.

When up and running, “a few permanent jobs” would be created to carry out routine investigations and maintenance, it adds.

A detailed planning application, including a flood risk assessment, is expected later.