WEST Devon planners have refused an application for a 58 hectare solar farm at North Tawton.

Kinetica Solar wanted to build the solar farm on land to the rear of Taw Valley Creamery. It had been dubbed an ‘eco-park’ on the basis of the combination of the installation of renewable energy and planned landscape planting, habitat creation and public access. The panels would have been in place for 30 years.

West Devon Borough Council has refused the application on the grounds that development would involve the temporary loss of Grade 2 farmland, and that the scale, visibility and dominance of the development would result in an unacceptably adverse impact on neighbouring and residential amenity.

In their report, the planning inspector handling the case said: ‘Given the rarity in the country and in West Devon of Grade 2 farmland, the impact of the temporary loss is considered to be significant.

‘The applicant has not provided evidence to demonstrate that the proposed installation would meet a local need. It is accepted that this the development could be fed into the Arla factory, but there is no unequivocal evidence of this and, even if it were, the applicant has not set out a compelling case as to why the proposed development is the best way to meet the needs of Arla either locally or across the whole organisation. The application is, therefore, predicated on the basis of meeting national need for renewable energy and it is not necessary or appropriate to meet that need using Grade 2 and Grade 3a farmland in West Devon borough.’

The benefits of up to 22MW of renewable energy were not perceived to outweigh the ‘substantial and significant adverse impact’ caused by the scheme.

The application had caused controversy, with the Campaign to Protect Rural England opposed to the plans.

Penny Mills from CPRE Devon said that it was fantastic news.

She said: ‘This proposal has been in the pipeline for such long time - so I know that local people are extremely relieved to hear that the application has at last been refused. There has been overwhelming opposition to it from the local community including the town council, so it is good to know that their opinions really have been taken into account on this occasion.

‘If this had been permitted it would have resulted in massive industrialisation of such a large area of the countryside and a loss of valuable farmland. We don’t want or need these solar farms on our green fields - we need farmland for food production’.