Client
Générale du Solaire
Size
5MW ground mounted solar park
Local Authority
Cherwell District Council
Sectors
Energy and Waste
Key Project Information
- Due to the location of the site within the Oxford Green Belt, it was necessary to demonstrate very special circumstances to outweigh the harm to the Green Belt
- That year, Cherwell District Council declared a Climate Emergency and it was argued that the project would help contribute towards the Council’s associated carbon emission targets
- The project saw client Générale du Solaire working jointly with social enterprise Low Carbon Hub
Due to the location of the site within the Oxford Green Belt, it was necessary for us to demonstrate very special circumstances to outweigh the harm to the Green Belt.
David Pickford – Pegasus Group Principal Planner
Pegasus Group provided planning and landscape expertise and secured consent for the 5MW ground mounted solar park at a site south of Minnis Farm, Yarnton
The very special circumstances of the proposal were:
- the scale (5MW) of generation of renewable energy, thereby assisting in reducing carbon emissions, combating climate change and ensuring energy security;
- the development of a community-led energy initiative, involving Oxfordshire-based Low Carbon Hub, with the project forming part of a wider, nationally significant, low-carbon project across Oxfordshire (Project Local Energy Oxfordshire) with associated benefits to the local community;
- the lack of suitable and available alternative sites in the area to provide adequate grid capacity and connection to allow for such a proposal, with no previously developed or non-agricultural sites in the area identified that could accommodate this proposal;
- assisting with the ongoing viability and stability of a rural business through rural diversification;
- the use of low-grade (grade 4) agricultural land;
- the non-permanent nature of the development, with some agricultural use maintained during the lifespan of the development; and
- the number of identified site-specific environmental considerations weighing in favour of the proposal, including the acceptable (subject to mitigation in certain circumstances) impacts, as well as the enhancements identified, in relation to matters such as residential amenity and aircraft safety, including from glint and glare; impact on heritage assets; highway impact; flood risk; arboriculture; ecology; and the limited landscape and visual impact of the proposal.
