Shropshire solar farm turned down over rural location

Plans for a large solar farm on the site of a former opencast mine have been rejected because of the rural location.

Greentech Services Ltd said the 99-acre site at New Works, near Telford, Shropshire, would have generated power for 8,650 households every year.

Telford and Wrekin councillors accepted the importance of renewable energy.

But found the location unsuitable due to proximity to Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Councillor Jacqui Seymour, who represents the area where the solar farm would have been situated, told the authority's planning committee the development "could not be more inappropriate".

A report that went before the committee said while the visual impact would be "limited, due to being relatively localised", the farm's presence would still be widely felt as a large number of people visited the area.

The committee rejected the scheme, concluding "the harm arising from the proposals is considered to outweigh the benefits".

Greentech said as well as producing renewable energy, the solar farm would have created construction and maintenance jobs.

It said its proposals for an extended car park and picnic area would have offered "a real opportunity to increase public access to the countryside".

The land had been used as an opencast coal mine by UK Coal between 2010 and 2013, but was filled in after extraction ended.

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