Loughborough-based specialist land development and property consultancy Mather Jamie has played a lead role in securing planning permission for a new 80 acre solar panel farm in Warwickshire.
Novus Renewable Services, a UK solar PV development company, has been granted permission by Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council to develop, construct and operate a solar project at Tolldish Hall Farm, North East of Aldermans Green.
The local plan for Nuneaton and Bedworth states that 14,000 new houses will be needed within the area between 2024 and 2039. The new solar farm will generate 25MW of electricity, which will be fed back to the grid. This is sufficient to power 7,091 homes, resulting in over half of the planned new housing being supplied by green energy.
The site has been carefully selected and designed through a detailed assessment process considering grid availability, heritage, landscape & amenity, ecology & environmental designations, access, and agricultural land quality.
Hamish Byers, head of sustainable energy at Mather Jamie, said: “There is significant growth in the renewable energy market and planning committees seem to be supportive of projects as long as their impact on the local environment meet biodiversity net gain BNG criteria. Solar farms also enable farmers to diversify and create additional revenue in an agricultural industry which is under significant pressure.”
The solar farm will be seeded with an appropriate grassland mix and suitable for animal grazing within a fenced area. The margins of the site outside the fencing will be used for other habitat enhancements such as wildflower seeding with the aim to boost the biodiversity both on and off site. Footpaths will also be retained to ensure local communities can continue to enjoy the countryside.
Hamish added: “The UK has a target to be net zero by 2050 and this development at Tolldish Hall Farm will serve a key role in the vital transition towards using renewable energy. The conversion of the land from monoculture cropping to grassland mix will also have a significant biodiversity uplift.”
Hamish is working on a significant number of other renewable energy projects across the UK. The combined energy production from these schemes (if all are successful at planning) will produce enough electricity supply to power in the region of 400,000 to 500,000 homes.
