Local Councillors have backed a damning report on the negative impact a huge solar farm will have on the area.

The planning committee of Rutland County Council unanimously endorsed the latest impact report on the controversial Mallard Pass Solar Farm at a meeting on Tuesday 13 June 2023.

If approved, the solar farm will stretch 4.2 miles and be centered around the small village of Essendine, but stretch to both Rutland and Stamford.

In February, Rutland Melton MP, Alicia Kearns spoke out against the 2,175-acre development. Read more here.

The scale of the development is such that the local council planning authorities are not able to make a decision – this must be made by the Government Planning Inspectorate and public examinations have started.

But the application still goes before councillors and on Tuesday, Rutland members heard about the local impact report (Report No.81/2023) which details the likely negative impact the proposed development could have on environmental health and the landscape, the character, and appearance of the area, as well as the loss of significant amounts of agricultural production land.

Key issues were highlighted by Councillors. Image credit: LDRS.

Concerns are also raised in the report about the amount of time landscaping the site will take to provide any meaningful screening of the development from affected residents.

One of the first to speak at the meeting was Sue Holloway, chairperson of the Mallard Pass Action Group which was set up to oppose the scheme.

She said: "Mallard Pass is unprecedented in scale, covering a site of over 2,000 acres – it is 10 times bigger than the largest solar plant in the United Kingdom, and proposed in a rural, rather than an industrial setting.

"The landscape and visual impact will be enormous – 530,000 panels, each 3.3m high surrounded by endless miles of 2m fencing, all with CCTV, and across 52 separate field plots. Our independent expert, in a 100-page report, clearly states that the applicants assessments are flawed and the levels of affects understated, with the character of the open, undulating vista changed immeasurably and irreversibly creating an industrialised landscape, and a wholly undesirable place to live, work and enjoy recreation.

"Traffic construction impact will be huge with eight construction compounds supporting 400 workers per day and as many as 50 two-way HGV movements, all on two strategic road networks, one through Casterton, the other through Bourne and the Deepings, the enforcement of which will be extremely hard and so put additional pressure back on the local roads.

"The A6121 residents of Essendine are likely to be subject to blanket compulsory acquisition rights due to the proposed works, and while the need for green energy is acknowledged, it is not matched with any detail in the applicants proposal – with even Mallard Pass admitting that the embodied carbon costs of the scheme are higher than the carbon savings."

Access was also considered. Image credit: LDRS.

Cllr Trevor Burfield, from Essendine Parish Council, added: "We endorse this local impact report and praise the officers who have taken the time to prepare it for us and yourselves, and providing the information and guidance as part of this process.

"However, we believe that in particular the part of the report that concerns the impact on highways is incredibly soft on the developers as there will be thousands of HGV truck movements coming right past three schools in Casterton, and more than 400 workers per day on the site all arriving in their white panel vans – so the traffic movements, which already number 800 per day in Essendine – will be significant.

"Essendine residents have already raised anxiety issues, with the pressures of sleepless nights mentioned by many and the additional potential for flooding also spoken about, not to mention the health and wellbeing aspects of the development which will be lost for forty years or more. We will also lose the idyllic aspects of the countryside vistas that we're known for in the county of Rutland, as the character of the landscape is changed immeasurably and forever."

County councillor Tim Smith (Lib Dem) said: "On reading through this report, one sentence stood out for me: '…in particular with reference to Essendine it is considered that the extensive spread of the proposal will result in this village feeling like it is located within the solar farm, rather than the solar farm being located near to the village. This impact is considered to be negative in relation to the visual appearance and character of the area and the setting of the village.'

"My first reaction was that this is unfair – but I realise that fairness is not a planning matter. However, for me the big planning issue is one of effect on the surrounding countryside, and having listened to the speakers I do think that we have not considered in particular the effects of the additional traffic in the area of the village because our job is, wherever possible, to enhance the effect and character of the villages and townscapes of the county of Rutland, and this development hardly does that."

The aesthetic impacts were also on the list for discussion. Image credit: LDRS.

It was the authority's opinion that one of the main reasons this site has been chosen for the proposed development is that to the south of the village there is an existing substation providing power to the East Coast Mainline.

The report can be read in full online.