Plans for large solar farm rejected

Plans for a large solar farm, which one resident said would leave her "surrounded" by panels, have been rejected.

Elements Green Renewables applied to build the farm on green belt land in Seaham, which it said would generate enough electricity to power about 16,000 homes.

Durham County Council refused permission for the scheme on Stockton Road, after hearing objections from Celia Wright who said it would have a "monumental impact" on her family's life.

The company said it believed the scheme's "very special circumstances" outweighed any harm and the project would deliver "clear and urgent clean energy benefits".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Wright told the council's planning committee: "Our house and surrounding garden will have solar panels on three sides of our property boundary.

"We will be surrounded.

"We spend a lot of time in the garden and have a vegetable allotment - the panels will literally be just over the fence."

The site straddles the boundary between County Durham and Sunderland, meaning planning permission was required from both councils.

Ahead of Wednesday's committee hearing, planning officers recommended refusal after ruling the development was "inappropriate".

A report said the proposal would harm the openness of the green belt and the surrounding landscape, as well as impacting the character of the area during its early years.

The application attracted 79 letters of support, arguing the project would help tackle climate change, improve energy security and create jobs, while generating enough renewable electricity to supply thousands of homes.

Elements Green Renewables said the development was temporary and fully reversible, adding it had found no suitable non-green belt alternative with comparable access to the electricity grid.

The farm was due to remain in place for 40 years.

The council received 16 objections, including from the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the East Durham Action Group and Seaham Town Council.

Concerns included the loss of agricultural land, harm to wildlife and the landscape.

County councillors Andrew Harrison and Chris Fairs also objected to the plans.

Debating the proposal, Independent councillor Alan Bell described the site as "an absolutely stunning area".

"If we put a solar farm on there, it would destroy it," he said.

The decision came after the developer submitted an appeal against the council for failing to determine the application within the required timescale.

However, council officers said they had not received confirmation from the Planning Inspectorate that the appeal had been accepted.

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