Pegasus Group are pleased to provide details of two recent projects where it has helped secure planning permissions for renewable energy developments.
Durham County Council approved the Burnhope Solar scheme which is located in County Durham and will generate up to 49.9 megawatts of renewable energy to power 13,800 homes a year and remove the same amount of CO2 emissions as taking 7,900 cars off the road per year.
Pegasus Group coordinated the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) and detailed landscape proposals for the project. As well as reducing landscape and visual effects on nearby settlements, footpaths and roads, the Leeds team worked closely with ecologists through an iterative design process to enhance the overall biodiversity of the site and provide good quality habitat for local species.
Chris Atkinson, Principal Environmental Planner of Lightsource bp said: ‘‘After many months of hard work it was brilliant to get planning permission for this co-located solar and battery project in Burnhope, County Durham. It will provide green energy to nearly 14,000 homes and will make a significant contribution to County Durham’s aspirations to become carbon neutral.”
The second approval was for a solar farm located at Lytham St Annes, Lancashire for the same client. The scheme will occupy 28 hectares of land and will generate up to 23.5 megawatts of renewable energy as well as saving up to 6,200 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
Pegasus Group coordinated the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) and detailed landscape proposals for the project. In addition, Pegasus actively engaged with the local council in relation to specific viewpoints where clarification on visual effects was sought and provided supplementary information and adjustments to the landscape scheme accordingly.
This article was written by the Leeds Environment team; for more information about this article, please contact us.