Concerns raised over Wayford Solar Farm in Crewkerne

A planning application for a 64-acre solar farm off Dunsham Lane in Wayford near Crewkerne, Somerset, has been submitted by Greentech Invest.

Plans for the proposed Mahe Solar Farm comprise of ground mounted solar panels, with a generating capacity of up to 18.5 MWp.

The development would include a 2m wall around the site, framework, inverters, underground cabling, CCTV, internal tracks and an associated infrastructure and a substation for grid connection. It would be installed for a temporary period of 40 years.

View of the proposed solar farm from Pilsdon Pen (Image: Stop Wayford Solar Farm) The company, which is based in Hamburg, Germany, believes that the site is sufficiently enclosed to prevent any adverse impact on the character of the village or the wider rural area.

It is proposed to be built just 450m south of the Dorset National Landscape, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), designated in 1959.

According to locals and campaigners, the farm will ‘spoil the views’ from the AONB, encompassing the surrounding Pilsdon Pen and Lewesdon Hill.

The current satellite image of Wayford and the plans for the proposed solar farm (Image: Google Maps, Greentech Invest) Paul Outram, a 69-year-old Crewkerne resident, has a direct view of the area over the Axe Valley, and said the site could be bad news for Dorset residents.

He said: “Putting a large solar farm there will turn the area into an ecological desert after it’s completed.

“You will be able to see the site from all over; Pilsdon Pen, Lewsdon Hill, the Wessex Ridgeway, as well as parts of Somerset.

“It will be utterly awful to put this on a beautiful landscape. I know it’s not the most exquisite natural ground, but it will spoil the views from Dorset and beyond.”

Views towards Dorset from Chard Lane (Image: Google Maps) A spokesperson for Stop Wayford Solar Farm said: "Dorset residents will see the installation. Hedgerows will not be sufficient to mask the views. It will be seen from Drimpton, Netherhay and Broadwindsor because it is on a hill, with a direct sight line from Pilsdon Pen. "

In supporting documentation, Dr AGW Dickinson, the chairman for the Dorset CPRE, said that the charity agrees with the Somerset branch in ‘vigorously’ opposing the development.

He said: “The proposal is in the setting of the Dorset National Landscape (AONB) which of course has the highest level of protection.

“We would like to know, please, why only about 3 per cent of roofs in this country have solar panels fitted while there seems to be little objection to covering good farmland, also in the setting of the AONB?

“The answer, of course, is for financial gain. It is cheaper and much more profitable than putting panels on roofs. But it is a short-term gain for the few - while in the future we will find it increasingly hard to feed ourselves (especially with an increasing population).”

Richard Brown, the Landscape Planning Officer at the Dorset National Landscape, operated under Dorset Council, raised objections to the proposed development, and said in the response to the application: “Overall, the decision to site a solar farm of a significant scale on a tract of sloping hillside that directly addresses Dorset National Landscape results in a substantial challenge.

“The requirement of the National Planning Policy Framework that development in the setting of National Landscapes should be sensitively located and designed, to avoid or minimise adverse impacts on these designated areas, is not clearly and positively addressed. This is an inherently difficult site to accept as being appropriate for a large[1]scale solar development and, as such, I feel that it is necessary to object to this application on the grounds that it would foreseeably not conserve and enhance the natural beauty of Dorset National Landscape.”

Developers Greentech Invest have been approached for comment.