Councillors approve 220-acre solar farm by one vote

Plans for a solar farm and battery storage park the size of more than 100 football pitches have been approved by councillors.

Opponents had concerns about loss of agricultural land and the impact on the countryside, but the scheme was approved by just one vote at a meeting of Brentwood Borough Council's planning committee.

It is set to be built on 220 acres at Fitzwalter's Farm, north of the A12 at Brentwood in Essex.

Large-scale solar farm specialist Luminous Energy says it will produce 49.9MW of power, enough for 23,410 homes a year, the equivalent of 77% of occupied households in Brentwood.

Six councillors voted in favour, while five were against the solar energy park on a site, which straddles the A12.

Luminous Energy has said measures such as hedgerow planting means there will be a biodiversity net gain in the area.

Barry Aspinell, the Liberal Democrat council leader, described the decision as saving a large area of the green belt from developers.

He said if there was no solar farm there, houses or industrial units could be built.

"That would be 220 acres lost forever in Brentwood.

"This way, when the solar panels are replaced or taken away, they can easily be reverted to agricultural green belt," Aspinell said.

Conservative opposition leader Will Russell said the decision was "driven by the administration's desire to deliver its climate emergency".

"I believe it is inappropriate development in the green belt," he said.

Paul Godfrey, a Reform UK councillor, said the solar farm would blight the landscape.

"Our green space is precious, and especially that which provides our food as farmland," he said.

Aspinell told the BBC the project would produce clean energy and it was "something that my party and me personally believe we should be doing as a matter of course".

According to council documents, the solar and battery storage park would be in place for up to 40 years "after which the solar arrays, battery storage infrastructure and associated development would be removed and the land restored".

Construction is set to begin in 2028.

The solar park is a third of the size of the Longfield solar farm to the north of Chelmsford, which will power 96,000 homes and is a nationally significant infrastructure project approved by government.

Investigation works are taking place there this summer.

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